Long Beach rapper and style-maker Rajh Kirch laments that the current state of hip hop is, in his own words, “plagued”—which largely explains why the musician’s first single off his latest album Magic, a collaboration with DJ PR, is titled “The Antidote.”

In the video for the infectious track, shot at Long Beach’s WE Labs, he is not shy at noting what he is plagued about—mainly the overcrowded scene and his haters, not so subtly represented by flashing images of the Big Bad Wolf from 1933’s iconic cartoon Three Little Piggies. This isn’t to mention the plethora of other symbols in the video, from a pin wheel reminding us of the daily grind to the many shots from the 1923 silent film adaptation Oscar Wilde’s scandalous play, Salomé.

“The game is so flooded/ Ha, ha, it’s comical,” Kirch sneers. “My rebirth, I flip the sound/ I came to reimburse everyone that held me down down down.”

This isn’t to say that Kirch’s sentiments are entirely pejorative. This is the rapper’s first musical outing since he decided to take on the fashion world with Ayopre Streetwear and Sandbox Social Club—and for that, he is genuinely happy, if not outright feeling there is a magical aura in the air (which probably explain the track’s absolutely delectable, dubby beat and the album’s overall banger-after-banger quality). After all, anyone would be remiss to not acknowledge the surge of phenomenal hip hop coming out of Long Beach this year: from Vince Staple’s utterly fantastic Hell Can Wait to Boogie’s addictive Thirst 48, it seems the only antidote needed for hip hop is the hip hop that lies outside our city’s walls—and Magic is proof of that.

The flip of “Antidote” is Magic, the album itself: the album hopes to show how hip hop and creativity revolve around magic-making, about making something insanely complex look easy. Which is why Kirch is momentarily obsessed with Houdini, introduced to him by art director and co-director for the “Antidote” video, Bro Brum.

“Brum showed me some vintage Houdini poster art where he’s locked in chains,” Kirch said. “It was sort of comic book-ish and that’s what inspired the fashion styling and the chain shots for the video. ‘A man that cannot be bound!’ I interpret the song as something about escaping adversaries and personal demons. Houdini was an escape artist. Voila.”

Finding his inner Robert DeNiro, Kirch delved into researching Houdini like an actor, discovering what he claims are parallels between each of them. In Houdini’s brilliant sense of business and understanding of his audience, there was always a sense of, “What’s next?”—a sensation that Kirch feels he always strives for as an entertainer as well as key to Magic’s overall theme.

This also explains his collaboration with DJ PR, whose production adds playful drum’n’bass elements, silky R&B notes, and beautiful bass runs to Magic. Being unable to shake the desire to have a highly stylized musical outing after his sabbatical, Kirch saw the perfect partner in PR to make Houdini return from the dead.

“I met PR several years ago at the Exhibit A Gallery event,” Kirch said. “He was spinning and I picked up a mixtape of his that was all 2-step and drum’n’bass tracks. We talked and then worked via Internet from there. I had sketched out a few songs with him but they didn’t fit my last record so I never released ‘em, eventually taking a break from music to start build my first fashion brand and business. When I finally got my musical itch back, I realized it would be a better idea to shop it as a whole collaborative project with a strong art direction and theme rather than an purely individual thing. He was very cool about letting me do what I wanna do creatively and I can’t be more happy that he trusts my abilities.”

As for where the future leads, Kirch is not shy in admitting that he wishes to mount an army of supporters.

“I want an army to break this record,” Kirch said. “Because I’d love to rep Long Beach outside of Long Beach. I want people to join me and see how far we can reach.”

“The Antidote” is from the upcoming release, RAJHMUSIC and DJPR present: Magic, and the single is available on iTunes or Soundcloud.