Rothstein is a man of many lanes, but all of them are emotionally in-touch. Fond of a heavily-detailed vocal delivery and songs about love and loss, he’s a force of alt-hip-hop smoothness and brutal honesty. On a run of particularly downtempo and emotionally downtrodden singles since the 2018 release of his debut album, High Water, the Boston emcee’s latest track is of a similar aesthetic. Are You Down brings his one-of-a-kind voice overtop guitar-heavy production. Begging for the same kind of honesty and reality in his relationships that define his music, Rothstein outlines what it is that he wants and what it is that he can bring to a relationship, only if it’s all reciprocated. 

 

It’s another short track that highlights modern hip-hop’s relatability and ability to be unapologetically vulnerable – a lane that through his many – Rothstein never loses grip of.