The 59-minute studio album The Internet is Fake (TIIF), released by rapper and lyricist Radio B in January, is his most impactful and socially relevant project yet. Featuring a poignant and reflective Radio, the album showcases a diverse lineup of artists, sounds, and sharp lyricism.
The opening track sounds like you’re logging into, or in this case, out of Meta, stepping into a world where our pitfalls, distractions, and triumphs have been mostly, if not all, shaped by the internet. The set up for the record feels like you’re walking a dimly lit hallway of history, where faded reflections remind us of who we used to be. As I listen, it feels like I’m learning “about human nature and its desire to be seen.” This album peels back the digital veil to expose how the internet shapes our dignity, joy, and identity, often as a mask.
Radio’s 2022 release, Stop Looking for Noise, hinted at the antidote to the chaos: silence. Now, on TIIF, he leans fully into that revelation.
“This is what I get for scrolling / taking all this content in without the motives,” he warns, dissecting our endless consumption of online noise.
Produced entirely by Don Dubious, the album’s layered, soulful soundscape feels like awakening from a dimly lit daydream into the sun.
One of my personal favorite tracks, Time, featuring Cousin Frank, takes the the listener’s perception, pulling them through shifting timelines filled with false narratives, sex, “selfies screaming help me,” opportunists, and clout-chasing trolls. Tracks like ‘Invisible Headsmacks’ and ‘Is Anybody Real?’ hit hard, but the harmonica-laced, choir-backed ‘Four Cornered Room’ sounds like a modern negro spiritual to those still chained, and logged in to the portal in their hands.
The instrumentation on “This is Fun” features ethereal melodies with jazz influences where featured artist Sam Reed encourages the listener to “put your MF phone down and put your feet in the grass.” Every time I hear that particular line; it waters the soil of my soul.
Check out the song, This is Fun, from Radio B’s “The Internet is Fake” here.
Radio addresses his own hurdles with relationships, on ‘A Little Grace’ featuring Nickelus F, and on ‘Watermelons’, he addresses not just the platonic relationships, but the relationship with his wife. Again, he reinforces the understanding that the internet is fake, exalting the foundation of real friends, and connection, by responding, almost to himself, “I don’t play house, I play forever.” A sentiment that resonates deeply.
Radio encourages the Black family to stick close, and urges Black media to relook at how certain content is built to tear the community down.
This album is a beautiful reminder of the timelessness of time, and to never lose connection to what’s real. Now, take this content outside, and charge your melanin, like elemental crystals.
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