Time is short and Reef the Lost Cauze wants to seize the day on “Old Boy”

From the single “Woke Up Early on my Born Day” to last year’s stellar stealth release The Majestic, it’s become something of a tradition for Philly rapper Reef the Lost Cauze to drop something new on December 30th, two days before New Year’s but the day his personal calendar turns another page (happy b-day, Reef!).

This year, that something is the single “Old Boy,” which gets in references to weed, family, and Baby Yoda in the first 20 seconds. Over a suave jazzy beat produced by Todd “Caliph-NOW” McDonald, it’s got an urgency to it, despite the mellowness. Reef unfurls bars for chuckles (“I’m just makin music, that’s my wheelhouse / everything’s coming up Milhouse”) as much as chills (“Give me my flowers now before I turn this garden to a ditch / the Lost Cauze is a myth / See, the greatest trick the devil pulled was make ’em think he ain’t exist”).

The central theme, though, seems to be Reef realizing that life is short, time is short, and announcing his intent to take the proverbial bull by the horns: “Last album I showed my pain, last album I showed my scars / this album I’m naming names, this album I’m showing off / and that’s law.”

Below, check out the music video for “Old Boy,” which features a static shot of Reef rapping to the camera in front of a checkerboard backdrop of 12″ single covers — Wu-Tang Clan, Onyx, EPMD, Public Enemy, The Last Emperor, and so on. You can also grab a download of the song on Bandcamp, and catch Reef live next month at Ardmore Music Hall with Blackalicious; tickets and more info on that show can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.