Thad Reid - Life Soldiers

With the first installment of his Paid Time Off EP/online series, Blue Collar/For the People emcee Thad Reid set out to put the populism back into popular music with a track expressing the relief all us working stiffs feel upon reaching the 15th and 30th of each month.  Now that all of our readers (at least the ones lucky enough to be employed) are enjoying their paychecks, it’s time for another miniature musical vacation courtesy of the man who brought us Watertight Flow.  This time around, the Virginia emcee’s teamed up with two fellow DMV rappers to pay tribute to “small town n*ggas… with big-city swag,” aka Life Soldiers, on their grind across the globe.  L.A.-based producer Auditory Beats’ thundrous instrumental, fueled by tension-fraught strings and brass fanfare, sets the mood for Reid’s hard-hitting rhymes, as well as some equally aggressive guest bars from Booth newcomers Flip and K-Beta.  To paraphrase Reid himself, this record’s guaranteed to get you out of your seat and motivated to make it happen.  If this two-fisted motivational jam’s got you amped up, be sure to tune in for the next Paid Time Off installment—Cruzin‘s set to cruise into the Booth on the 15th.