Runnin' Thru the 7th with My Woadies

"Runnin' Thru the 7th with My Woadies" is a raw and unfiltered depiction of the artists' lives, steeped in the gritty realities of New Orleans' 7th Ward. The song explores themes of depression, drug addiction, violence, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. The title itself is a localized spin on Drake's hit "Know Yourself," replacing Toronto's "6" with the "7th" Ward and "woes" with "woadies," a New Orleans slang term for close friends or people from the same ward. This immediately grounds the track in their specific cultural and geographical context. The lyrics paint a bleak picture of a lifestyle characterized by substance abuse as a coping mechanism for mental health struggles. There's a nihilistic acceptance of their reality, a world where they are 'running from the cops' and violence is commonplace. The recurring line, 'When you come home, I'll stop this,' acts as a fragile, almost childlike promise of redemption that seems perpetually out of reach, highlighting the cyclical nature of addiction and destructive behavior. It suggests a deep-seated desire for change that is contingent on an external saving grace, which may never arrive. The song is not just a glorification of a hedonistic lifestyle but a dark, introspective look at the pain and inner demons that fuel it.

The song opens with a serene yet unsettling image: a view from a balcony overlooking a blue-lit pool. The atmosphere is one of detached indulgence, with two grams of weed packed into a freshly smoked blunt and an anonymous sexual encounter unfolding. The narrator, Ruby da Cherry, boasts of his gold chains but keeps them hidden, a metaphor for his inner worth or turmoil that he only reveals in private. He compares his cold nature to a polar bear, even in the summer, and references his crew, including Stunna and Slick. The imagery of tulips surrounding him is abruptly contrasted with mentions of two clips and two prescriptions for OxyContin, plunging the listener into a world of heavy drug use. The smoke that envelops his body becomes a shroud, and he chillingly confesses to murdering 'Oddy,' a darker aspect of himself, and burying the evidence with the help of his 'woadie' Slick, under the headlights of Pouya's Cadillac. What started as a good day has devolved into the 'usual' grim routine, clad in black like a funeral.

The recurring, haunting refrain, 'When you come home, I'll stop this,' serves as a desperate, perhaps insincere, promise of change, a plea to an unnamed person whose return is positioned as the sole catalyst for abandoning this destructive lifestyle.

Slick Sloth's verse catapults the listener into a more visceral and violent reality. He's on the run from the police through the 7th Ward, a place where death is common and salvation is absent. The streets are 'hot,' and he's armed, using pills to self-medicate his depression. He proudly represents his city, 'the city of the crest,' armed with a Smith & Wesson. The violence is explicit, with 'two shots to the dome' and 'six shots in the chrome,' turning a home into a crime scene. He spells out '$uicide' and invokes his alter ego, Scarecrow, who walks with Lucifer and is surrounded by crucifixes. This verse is a descent into a personal hell, a landscape of despair where the ocean's swell mirrors his inner turmoil and every cell of his being feels filled with death.

Pouya's verse shifts the focus to a toxic relationship, where a woman is 'too deep in the flask,' her drinking and thinking leading to bad decisions. He acknowledges a recurring, painful dynamic, a 'déjà vu' of dysfunction. He contemplates leaving her but is riddled with doubt, admitting he could be wrong, 'sprung,' or just plain foolish. He finds a twisted form of therapy in her actions, but the relationship is ultimately a dead end, something 'blown like Nintendo.' He asserts his own strength and longevity, hoping his music will be his lasting legacy. He delivers a final, scathing critique of a life spent in mediocrity, working for nothing and ultimately being worthless.

"Runnin' Thru the 7th with My Woadies" was released on September 15, 2015, as the third track on the collaborative EP $outh $ide $uicide by $uicideboy$ and Florida rapper Pouya. The song was recorded for G*59 Records. The production was handled by $crim under his producer alias Budd Dwyer (though another source credits SLAMDUNKASAUR). The track famously samples the song "When You Come Home" by Marie Therese, with the repeated line 'When you come home, I'll stop this' forming the haunting chorus. This sample is pitched down and slowed, creating the song's signature hazy and melancholic atmosphere. The song's title is a direct reference to Drake's popular song "Know Yourself," where he raps about 'runnin' through the 6 with my woes.' The $uicideboy$, consisting of cousins Scott Arceneaux Jr. (Slick Sloth/$crim) and Aristos Petrou (Ruby da Cherry), who grew up in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, adapted the line to reflect their own environment. The term 'woadie' is a New Orleans slang term for a close friend, derived from 'wardie,' referring to people from the same ward in the city.

"Runnin' Thru the 7th with My Woadies" utilizes a rhythmic and rhyming structure that is characteristic of the hip-hop genre, but with a distinct, lethargic feel that complements its dark themes. The song maintains a tempo of around 112 BPM. The rhythm is built upon a foundation of classic trap percussion—booming 808s, crisp snares, and rapid hi-hats—which creates a sense of urgency and tension that ironically underlies the hazy, slowed-down sample. The rappers' flows often play against this rhythm. Ruby da Cherry's verse is more relaxed and rides the beat, while Slick Sloth's delivery is more frantic and aggressive, creating a dynamic interplay between vocal rhythm and the underlying instrumental. The rhyme schemes are predominantly free-form, relying heavily on internal rhymes, assonance, and consonance rather than strict end-rhyme patterns. For example, in Ruby's verse, we see rhymes like 'blue' and 'blew', and in Slick's verse, 'heaven', 'weapon', and 'depression'. This free verse approach allows for a more narrative and conversational style, making the grim storytelling feel more direct and personal.

The song employs a variety of stylistic techniques to achieve its distinctive dark and immersive atmosphere.

• Musical Style: The production, characteristic of cloud rap and trap, features a slowed-down, ethereal sample from Marie Therese's "When You Come Home." This creates a dreamy, almost 'underwater' mood that contrasts sharply with the harshness of the lyrics. The beat is driven by heavy 808 bass and classic trap drum patterns.
• Vocal Delivery: The vocal performances are a key element. Ruby da Cherry's verse features a more melodic, laid-back flow, while Slick Sloth's is aggressive, raw, and desperate. Pouya's verse offers a more conversational, yet cynical, delivery. This variation in vocal styles adds dynamic texture to the track.
• Lyrical Techniques: The lyrics are characterized by their raw, confessional, and often shocking nature. The artists use vivid, often violent and drug-related imagery to convey their emotional state. There's a strong narrative voice, deeply rooted in their personal experiences in New Orleans. The title's intertextual reference to Drake's "Know Yourself" is a clever way to re-contextualize a mainstream hit within their own underground, localized reality.
• Sampling: The use of the Marie Therese sample is a crucial stylistic choice. The haunting, repetitive vocal line 'When you come home, I'll stop this' serves as a hook and an emotional anchor, creating a sense of cyclical despair and false hope.

"Runnin' Thru the 7th with My Woadies" is one of the most iconic tracks for both $uicideboy$ and Pouya, and a significant song within the underground cloud rap and trap scene of the mid-2010s. While it didn't chart on mainstream billboards, its impact is evident in its massive streaming numbers, with hundreds of millions of plays on platforms like Spotify. The song was a staple of $uicideboy$'s live performances for many years. Its cultural influence lies in its raw, unapologetic portrayal of mental health issues, drug addiction, and life in a disenfranchised part of New Orleans, themes that resonated deeply with a large and dedicated fanbase. The song helped to solidify $uicideboy$'s signature sound: a blend of dark, confessional lyrics with hazy, sample-heavy beats. The title's clever twist on a mainstream Drake hit became a memorable calling card, showcasing their ability to subvert popular culture to fit their own grim reality. The track is often cited by fans as a quintessential $uicideboy$ song and an entry point for new listeners into their discography.

The lyrics of "Runnin' Thru the 7th with My Woadies" are rich with symbolism and dark metaphors that paint a vivid picture of the artists' internal and external worlds.

• The 7th Ward: More than just a location, it symbolizes a state of being—a grim, dangerous reality from which there is no easy escape. It represents their roots and the source of their struggles and identity.
• 'Murdered this bitch named Oddy': This line by Ruby da Cherry (whose alter ego is Oddy Nuff da Snow Leopard) is a powerful metaphor for self-destruction and the killing of a part of his own identity, likely a more innocent or hopeful version of himself.
• 'Back in all black like a funeral': This simile reinforces the constant presence of death, despair, and mourning in their lives, suggesting that every day feels like a funeral.
• Lucifer and Crucifixes: Slick Sloth's plea, 'Lucifer please come save me,' while being surrounded by crucifixes, is a stark inversion of traditional religious imagery. It symbolizes a complete loss of faith in conventional salvation and a turn towards darkness for solace, or it can be interpreted as a desperate cry for help from any source, even a demonic one.
• 'Smoke hovers all around my fucking body': The smoke from drugs is not just a physical presence but a symbol of confusion, concealment, and the hazy barrier between the artists and the world, a self-imposed fog to numb the pain.

The most significant recurring element in the song is the sampled vocal line, 'When you come home, I'll stop this.' This phrase acts as the song's chorus and its central emotional motif. Its repetition throughout the track creates a haunting and melancholic atmosphere. The line functions as a desperate plea and a hollow promise, suggesting a cycle of addiction and destructive behavior that the speaker wishes to break but feels powerless to do so without some external intervention. This recurring promise underscores the themes of dependency and false hope. Another recurring motif is the imagery of drugs and violence. References to pills, OxyContin, blunts, weapons, and death are woven throughout all the verses, reinforcing the song's dark and dangerous world. The explicit mention of the '7th Ward' of New Orleans also recurs, grounding the song in a specific, personal geography and highlighting its importance to the artists' identity and experiences.