Written by Joseph De Mesa

In the first run of the song, it was made evident by the beat alone that it was more of an emotional song. Far from Run Deliks’ earlier works, including the noisy bass-filled sonics of “Muerto Manila” or the dance-bop of “Get Along”, “Crawlspace” takes on a more emotional route. Of course we didn’t expect any less from their technical lyricism from both Blitzen and Shark. That’s the first thing we should expect from the formidable duo.

But as the lyrics read once we deep dive into “Crawlspace” and its 16 bars, there lies crucial, much smaller details. Discussing topics such as anxiety riddling the newer rap artists’ lives and such; With Blitzen’s verse alluding more on the “demon on your shoulder” thematic all the while Shark’s verse with lighter, optimistic bars, and the artist’s dilemma of making art for money, fame or probably neither.

After careful listening sessions, Blitzen’s verse unveiled several things, apart from the mentioned anxiety demon, he also paints a picture on the latter half of what it feels like performing for the first time. The bar “Like a monster with a name that I can’t pronounce, takes the form of everybody in the crowd” encapsulates how terrifying it truly is to perform for the first few times, even for the smallest of crowds. Then it proceeds again on how the anxiety you feel being a musician or an artist of whether you can “make it” etcetera.

This verse proceeds with a hook in the middle before Shark’s verse. The hook effectively encapsulated how our minds are our own worst enemy.

As for Shark’s verse, his verse packs a punch in terms of themes compared to blitzen’s. This one talks about a lot of things: Wanting to go hard on music, but then switching up to how viable music is. He begs to ask the question whether art reaffirms ones rent in the long run. This question is then answered by Shark’s versatility with double-time rapping and technical bars wherein its utilized more from their contemporaries, though i feel like this ones more tasteful. The verse is then finished off with how he doesn’t do it for money or fame, and more on just making music people hopefully would resonate and relate to.

A noteworthy thing or two in “Crawspace” is how Blitzen’s doubtful and anxiety filled bars compare really well with sharks more hopeful yet still question filled bars. It’s not a total 180 opposite but still the distinctness of each other compliments both well.

Overall the song isn’t that far from their style. It still is very technical and bar heavy when it comes to the verses. The difference lies in the topic.

Funnily enough, “Crawlspace” has the same niche of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”, minus the mom’s spaghetti and the cornball bars that’s influenced Detroit, but rather its influenced Metro Manila rappers who are in the brink of promise.

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