Revisiting My Ghosts Go Ghost 

Ily Dunlap 

Rap/Hip-Hop Journalist 

On September 15, 2021, Injury Reserve would release their sophomore and final album, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, just a year after the death of founding member Steppa J. Groggs. The album reached me two years after its release when I learned that they sampled two of my favorite bands at the time, Black Midi, and Black Country, New Road. 

Just a few weeks after I first listened to By the Time I Get to Phoenix in 2023, the remaining members, RiTchie and Parker Corey, would announce that they were separating from Injury Reserve to make a new group called By Storm, in reference to the concluding song on By the Time I Get to Phoenix.  

Fast forward to January of 2026, By Storm announces their debut album on Substack titled My Ghosts Go Ghost. On January 30, I listened to the album and enjoyed it, but never relistened or really dove into it the way I did with By the Time I Get to Phoenix; but now, as we reach the end of the year and I think of all the different projects I’ve listened to, I wanted to reexamine this project and truly dive into its significance and why I believe it is one of the best albums this year. 

Ghosting What Once Was 

My Ghosts Go Ghost wants to make it clear that it is not By the Time I Get to Phoenix. In My Ghosts Go Ghost, RiTchie raps about his steps towards growth, not just from the passing of  Groggs, but also his steps to becoming a father and leaving behind his previous foolish behaviors. In the first track, “Can I Have You for Myself?”, RiTchie ponders his future as a father and how it will affect his relationship with his wife. RiTchie sings of how Grogg’s death has affected him and how he thinks it will continue to affect him when their child is born. 

“Dead Weight” serves as the second track, in which RiTchie uses imagery of his hair as something dragging him down, both in a literal sense regarding its length, but also the memories it carries regarding Grogg’s death. The song’s erratic production glides with RiTchie’s flow as he goes back and forth between keeping his hair for the memories or letting go and starting anew. In “Grapefruit,” RiTchie mentions his history of being so open in his music, comparing it to the bloody flesh of a grapefruit. 

“In My Town” gives us a deeper look into RiTchie’s touring life as he describes the pressures of going on tour for an album but still needs to provide for his family through delivering food. RiTchie makes it clear that despite his love for his work, it does not truly give him all that he needs monetarily. “Zig Zag” uses repetition, with the title being repeated in the chorus, with the production getting grainier, the words being practically indecipherable as the song goes on, with RiTchie speaking on his past behaviors and how he is “zigzagging” through life. 

In the second half of the album, “Best Interest” serves as the only song with a feature, with Billy Woods giving the last verse as he and RiTchie speak about how they’ve gotten to the place they’re at now, and all the struggles that came along. “Double Trio 2,” my favorite off the album, reuses the instrumental from their first single as a duo, “Double Trio”. This song reveals the duo’s versatility, as they can make this song sound fresh, despite the instrumental already being used by them. RiTchie speaks more on Groggs’ passing like he did in the first “Double Trio,” although in this version, it seems he speaks on the passing in a more accepting way, as he alludes to both “Dead Weight” and the following track “And I Dance” with the lyric, “Massage my scalp in more oils/brush off the ash on my back”.  

The penultimate track of the album, “And I Dance,” revisits the previous theme of hair carrying memories, while also speaking about the culture surrounding black hairstyles. RiTchie repeats these sentiments over heavy percussion, reminding himself that “There’s nothing to run from.” The final track “GGG” recalls the memories of Groggs’ passing and how it has affected RiTchie and Corey’s lives. The chorus repeats the title of the album as a means of representing our fleeting memories as humans, and the pain and guilt we feel over moving past the death of someone so important. These memories must go somewhere; these memories will ghost us, the ghosts of our past will leave us, and we can only accept it and find a way to keep moving forward.

Dancing Through Grief 

My Ghosts Go Ghost as an album represents the grief that continues to follow By Storm but also gives us insight into RiTchie’s life and how they’ll continue to work despite their grievances, and despite all the difficulties they might face touring and raising families. By Storm continues to create despite the loss of such an important member, and we see this in their debut album. I am truly delighted that I gave this album a true relisten and analyzed and researched it more, because this album truly deserves it. My Ghosts Go Ghost is a perfect medium for grief and how one can move despite it. I only hope to see more from By Storm as they continue to dance through life.