Last summer, Jordan Alexander Groggs, a.k.a Stepa J. Groggs from the eclectic Hip-Hop trio Injury Reserve, passed away at the age of 32. Since confirming the emcee’s passing in a brief, yet heartfelt message on June 30, 2020, the group has refrained from releasing any new music or commenting further on Groggs’ passing.
This week, however, Injury Reserve has emerged from their hiatus and announced a new album, titled By the Time I Get to Phoenix. In a lengthy statement, Ritchie With a T and Parker Corey touched on the creation of their forthcoming record, as well as Stepa J. Grogg’s profound influence on the project.
“While touring Europe in 2019, we had a show in Stockholm that had been booked in the back of an Italian restaurant instead of a typical venue,” the group explains in the statement. “To match a certain lack of production we pivoted the show into our own improvisatory take on a dj set and ended up performing a song none of us had heard before, the board recording of which became the grounding for a new album.”
“Over the next few months we locked in and put together the 11 songs that the album would eventually become,” Injury Reserve continued. “Once the tracklist came together and we started to make sense of it, one of the last phone conversations we had with Groggs was over his love for the repurposing of Isaac Haye’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix to title the album. Shortly thereafter we were struck with his loss and of course everything was put on hold.”
“Eventually we regathered and felt most comfortable finishing this album we had made as it still resonated fully (In some respects even taking on what felt like haunting pre-echoes) and above all else stayed true to his constant insistence while recording to simply ‘make some weird shit,'” they revealed. “All this said obviously this album is dedicated to Jordan Alexander Groggs, aka Stepa J. Groggs with one p better get it right.”
Check out the stunning album cover below.
By the Time I Get to Phoenix is set to arrive on September 15, so while you patiently await Injury Reserve’s forthcoming 11-track album, check out the music video for “Knees” below. Rest in peace, Jordan “Stepa J.” Groggs.
Quotable Lyrics
Shit, I can’t even grow no more
Well, at least not vertically
But all these bottles that a nigga been killin’
Got my stomach a lil’ bit lower than it’s s’posed to be, ‘posed to be
Shit, I seen my aunt the other day, she started roastin’ me
Like “Baby, how come every time I see you, you gettin’ fatter in the face?”