SKYZOO & PETE ROCK- RETROPOLITAN
One of the dopest indie rappers in the game, Skyzoo and legendary producer Pete Rock joined forces to drop Retropolitan in late September. Both hailing from New York, the album title clearly suggests that they're here to bring back that vintage, east-coast, boom-bap sound for the hip hop purist and for those 'trapped in the 90s'.
A mixture of the traditional 'verse-chorus-verse-chorus...' structure and 'no-hook/straight spittin', the content tends to focus on Skyzoo's younger years that moulded him into the man he is today. I believe Penny Jersey's is the best example of this and it's all done over some nice Pete Rock instrumentals. Dope bars from start to finish.
Behind classics like The World Is Yours and T.R.O.Y. , Pete Rock is one of the greatest producers in hip hop history and he sustains this reputation with Retropolitan. Soul Brother No.1 is best-known for his soulful beats and while Retropolitan has this in abundance, this is balanced out by more gutta tunes like Carry The Tradition and 10 Days.
I said previously that Eve by Rapsody had the best guestlist this year but Retropolitan is definitely up there in terms of features. There's verses from Styles P, Pete Rock, Elzhi and Griselda Records as well as vocals from Raheem Davaughn and they all brought their A-Game. ECAS is probably the best posse cut I've heard all year.
Album was tight from the beats, the bars to the features and perfectly captured that vintage East Coast period that produced so much classic material.
I'm not gonna go overboard and say this is a classic but I will say that dope beats and dope rhymes equal a dope album and I'll give this an 8.5.
FAVES
Beat- Carry The Tradition
Verse- Penny Jersey's
Feature- TBC
Track- Richie
D BLOCK EUROPE- PTSD
The men of the moment Young Adz and Dirtbike LB aka D-Block Europe returned with their 3rd mixtape and second of the year titled PTSD. Landing at No.4 in the UK national charts and having one of the biggest fanbases in the UK right now, their commercial success is currently as high as... well them!
Critically though, this is a 28-track mixtape and you know I have my quantity-over-quality suspicions about lengthy projects but keep reading.
I've noticed that DBE have a huge female fanbase and I think I know why. Based on the overall content of this mixtape, I have to wonder whether PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or if it actually means Pussy Tasting, Sucking and Devouring as there's more songs about the latter than there is in a whole discography of certain rappers. The funny thing is there's a tune titled Thoughts which is primarily about trappin' yet Young Adz still manages to squeeze in the line 'I ate the pussy good from the back' even though it was clearly out of place LOL. Besides that, the duo mostly spit about lean, drip and a bit about trappin'. Nothing too deep. Skill-wise they're not crap... they can rap... though it seemed like they went on autopilot in some tracks.
The beats overall were pretty good, predominantly trap with either a turn-up or 'cruise in the whip' kinda vibe. There were a sprinkle of 'hip hop' beats but this is definitely for trap fans.
Solid feature-list with notable artists from the UK and USA such as Lil' Baby, Dave, AJ Tracey and regular collaborator Yung Bxne.
At 28 tracks, this is a quantity-over-quality project as I assumed and it's difficult to fully digest unless you're a DBE or trap stan... and of course a chick that wants to hear a ton of tongue-twister talk. I'll give this a 6.5.
FAVES
Beat- Cartier Frames
Verse- Outside Verse 1
Feature- AJ Tracey
Track- Cartier Frames
WALE- WOW... THAT'S CRAZY
DMV rapper Wale returned with his sixth album Wow... That's Crazy in early October. Viewed as the poet of MMG records, some may feel that he's overshadowed by Philly labelmate Meek Mill as well as the bearded face of the label Rick Ross. In spite of this, he has still managed to achieve 2 number 1 albums as well as 2 top 10 albums (including this) since signing with the label.
WTC focuses mainly on relationships and girl trouble. While Wale may be enjoying a successful career, the content suggests that the life of a rapper isn't as glamorous as his labelmates may suggest. Speaking of which, he does have a solitary song with Meek and Rozay about ballin' but that's an anomaly amongst all the angst that Wale vents about. Aside from the topic that wasn't part of Jay's 99 problems, Wale also speaks on image gang and mental health as well as using alcohol as a coping mechanism. It's not all doom and gloom however as he also made room to write an ode to black women and declared that he's going to support everything black *insert black power fist emoji*.
The production is very RnB-flavoured for the most part with sprinklings of a 'hype' track (as already mentioned with his MMG brethren), an afrobeats track and two tracks which I would describe as... 'groovy'. Beats are nice and I personally think you'll love this album if you're more into RnB/ female-friendly rappers.
Skills? Wale can rap. He has good wordplay, capable of a good punchline (kicked it in DC United, now I bid her adieu (reference to former DC Utd footballer Freddy Adu)), he's versatile and clearly has more depth than the average rapper but... One thing I've realised for a long time with Wale is that some of his bars don't rhyme. Throughout this album and previous releases he will go a good couple bars not rhyming nothing and being the hip hop head that I am, I can't get past that. Unless it's Phonte's verse on Whatever You Say, I expect your bars to rhyme, all the time lol.
Aside from that, it's a solid release by the underrated Wale. Despite the overall dark theme, the production and the few light-hearted tracks made it an enjoyable listen. I'll give this an 7.5.
FAVES
Beat- On Chill
Verse- Expectations verse 3
Feature- Boogie
Track- Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic
WRETCH 32- UPON REFLECTION
Tottenham's finest returned with his fifth (fourth on a major label) LP in mid-October. It was his first project in two years and unfortunately the first to land outside of the Top 20 in the album charts.
Given that Wretch has topped the charts in the past and has seen two of his albums reach the Top 5, he may find this disappointing from a commercial POV. From a critical standpoint however, the feedback has been considerably better in contrast.
Wretch 32 is one of the best artists to come out of the UK and he displays why throughout this 12 track project. The North London MC has always been introspective and as hinted in the album title, Upon Reflection offers more of that. He speaks on life's ups and downs, expresses appreciation to the females in his life and also discusses his own career. Wretch 32, as most rappers do, wasn't going to drop a rap album without doing a bit of good old-fashioned bragging however as shown on Winning and 10/10. The main letdown on this album for me were the more female-friendly tracks towards the end which for me, weren't as good as the rest of the album. I'm kinda disappointed he never spoke on the Scorcher rumours either.
Although a hip hop artist, he shows his vocal versatility on the reggae-flavoured Visiting Hours and the afroswing-ish Spin Around. To be real though, Wretch's main attribute has always been his dope pen game. So here's a few lines that stood out to me.
'I'm the father of the group/ That means that daddy gotta steer the ship through, gotta harbor for the youths' Winning
'My little nigga showed me two nines/ Said he bought them both for one eight/ Bang bang bang at your Landrover/ I don't know, call that a gun range/ Bang bang bang, you're in theatre/I don't know, call that gun play' Insurance
'You think you've had your heyday (haye) and they feel they'll Tony Bell-ew' Upon Reflection
The production was good for the most part. It covered several genres such as reggae, afroswing, trap, rnb and of course hip hop but nothing particularly stood out to me.
Wretch has a song called 10/10 on UR and while I wouldn't give it this score, we can all see that Upon Reflection was a solid release by one of the scene's veterans. Over 10 years in the game, Wretch 32 has every right to see himself as one of the best. I'll give this a 7.5.
FAVES
Beat- Mummy's Boy
Verse- Upon Reflection verse 1
Feature- Avelino
Track- Upon Reflection
KANYE WEST- JESUS IS KING
Kanye's ascension from college dropout to Roc-A-Fella's in-house producer to one of the world's most famous figures is thoroughly impressive. No ascension however will ever match that of the lord Jesus Christ's and the guy from Chicago knows that himself hence his 9th studio album being titled Jesus Is King.
Released in late October, due to Kanye's massive stanbase, JIK landed at No.1 in multiple countries. The commercial success however was in stark contrast to it's critical reception with the 'gospel'-influenced album being his lowest rated album to date.
To be droppin' an 'gospel' album after years of secular behaviour (and even once stating he sold his soul to the devil) may seem odd... but we're all humans and no-one's perfect. There are numerous Christianity-related references and tunes like Water, Hands On and God Is had good content if you can take it at face value. Skill-wise, the bars weren't particularly bad but he's a long way away from his College Dropout days and you may be interested to know that CyHi The Prince and Clipse have writing credits on songs they did not feature on.
Described as a gospel album, there are indeed elements of gospel music present throughout. JIK also covers other genres such as RnB, trap, EDM, hip hop of course as well as jazz. A good move in my view and one of the better points of this album.
The standout moment was without doubt the surprise return of the much-loved DMV duo Clipse with No Malice FKA Malice, who left mainstream rap for religious reasons, droppin the best verse of the project.
Just under half an hour, the album is short but sweet? Not so much. I don't think it's as bad as people made it out to be but this would not be in the top end of Kanye's lengthy discography. I'll give this a 6.5.
FAVES
Beat- Follow God
Verse- Follow God
Feature- Pusha T
Song- Selah
That concludes this post. The final set of 2019 reviews be on the next post. Thanks for reading.
Peace Out!
