When R4PC4MP dropped their first album, Somebody Gotta Hold the Balloons, back in 2018, it was a collaboration between Portland, Oregon artists Lucas Dix, Blake Ambrose, and Brass Clouds. By the time they came back with a second album, TR4PC4MP, in 2020, the group had amorphized to include Kurn’t Cobain alongside Blake and Lucas on the mic, and the production was now being handled by i like animals. Now, as their third album reaches us, it should come as no surprise that the camp is once again expanding it’s roster as the core from the last album now welcome in a couple of newcomers from Columbus, Ohio, by the names of Dug and Happy Tooth, along with a producer form Madison, Evaridae. The resulting album is now here in the form of Just Outside America’s Test Market.

Along with all of the aforementioned artists in R4PC4MP, they are also welcoming in an array of guests including Smoke M2D6, Alex Toast, Sho, Ghost Mimosa, BDotJeff, Rob the Universe, and Nibs. Under most circumstances, this would be way too many cooks in the kitchen. Fortunately, when Blake Ambrose and Lucas Dix started out on this journey, they made sure that R4PC4MP wasn’t going to be a project where they drop posse albums full of shit talking where some homies who don’t have the skills derail the whole thing with tired and/or offensive cliches when they get on the mic. No, this was always going to be a camp for the weird kids who loved hip hop but were just as likely to drop rhymes about Shel Silverstein and Calvin and Hobbes as they were about basketball or their skills on the mic. So when R4PC4MP welcomed some guests to the lunch table in the main cabin, they made sure that everyone was on the same page and fit the vibes that they were establishing and that there wasn’t a drop off in skill level just because someone was a homie. As a result, you get this unique introspective and philosophical posse album in Just Outside America’s Test Market that is a lot of fun to listen to. It’s the kind of album where you can just keep listening to it over and over and picking up a different verse or line each time, or maybe a nuance in the subtle production styles of i like animals or Evaridae. It’s all about just losing yourself in the music and getting lost inside your own head as you take everything in. The only thing that’s really missing is that one single that bumps extra hard that can serve as an entryway for new listeners – “Oh, you haven’t heard the new R4PC4MP? Check this one out!” It’s a pretty minor thing, though, since this project is really about the overall listening experience of all of these friends and collaborators and outsiders just letting loose with their inner thoughts and emotions on the mic, knowing that they have the support of their fellow campers.

Just Outside America’s Test Market feels like the natural evolution of R4PC4MP over these last three years. They have a solid core, but it’s not about ego, it’s about collaboration and creating an atmosphere where you feel comfortable being your own weird self. So go on a long drive, take a hike, or just put on some headphones and look up at the night sky and get lost in this album.