"Keepin' grubby hands out my lane—I guess I'm McClane / Rap game's—my Nakotomi Plaza / I tip-toe through broken glass to rescue my oldest passion / bet it all against the house in the hopes it'd let me out," Baltimore emcee NotForgotten ferociously rhymes on "Against All Odds," the first single from his as-yet-untitled debut album. NotForgotten is the emcee alias of Ricky Robertson, Jr. a self-described rapper, comic book artist, and illustrator; Robertson's been writing raps for the past 15 years and has been a self-taught artist for just as long, plus, 10 years prior. As NotForgotten tells "Against All Odds'" origin story to The Witzard, he "reached out to Cryptic One in response to an offer he posted on Twitter announcing that he had beats available." I have to admit, however, I'm still mildly intrigued to hear what NotForgotten & Cryptic One's Indie Hip-Hop-laden rendition of Phil Collins' 1984 Soft Rock Power Ballad, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" might sound like!


Even though he "assumed these were reserved for established artists," NotForgotten took a shot and reached out to Cryptic One (@cryp_uno) and to his surprise, attained the skeletal, multi-layered beat that would eventually, become "Against All Odds." Once NotForgotten wrote and recorded his rhymes and the time for mixing and mastering approached, he spotted a similarly-minded post from C$BURNS (@cmoneyburns) stating he was available to do mixing/mastering jobs. "As I had previously purchased an instrumental from him that—SPOILER ALERT!—if all goes to plan, will lead into this track on the album. It seemed like a perfect fit," NotForgotten further detailed, via email. " C$B turned in a mix that was much less abrasive to the ear and ensured that all the nuances of Cryptic's incredible beat remained audible," he continued. "Against All Odds" is now available to stream on NotForgotten's Bandcamp page, along with a collection of album demos and rough cuts still available to hear online. Ricky "NotForgotten" Robertson, Jr.'s illustrations and artwork can be viewed at his Behance artist profile, as well as his not_forgotten_ Instagram page.