CJ FLY- RUDEBWOY
CJ Fly has been active for nearly 10 years and is best known for being one of the original members of the Brooklyn collective Pro Era (along with the face of the group Joey Bada$$, the deceased but much revered Capital STEEZ and DJ Powers Pleasant). The oldest member of P.E. dropped his debut album Rudebwoy in early March and it was met with positive reviews.
The New Yorker spills his weed-intoxicated guts straight out the gate. Offering the rarely-heard perspective of the 'other' type of rapper... The spitter who hasn't yet attained the level of success or fame that their talent should elevate them to. The opening bars going...
'Ever feel Iike you can't doing nothin' right?
Goin' insane and the frustration make you wanna fight
Was looking down at this page and thinkin' what to write
I'm livin' check to check and yet some people claim they want this life' Goin Thru
His vulnerability, blunt honesty and just straight up barring is appreciated at a time where superficiality is at an all-time high.
As you can tell from the album title, CJ Fly is of Caribbean descent (Jamaican and Bajan) and references to his island roots are made throughout Rudebwoy via his use of Patois. His talk of New York on Show You shows you (obviously) that he is also very proud of his NY identity.
Rudebwoy has a dope guestlist that nearly rivals Royce's The Allegory. Features include Griselda's Conway The Machine on the thugged-out City We From. His reputation for murderin' mics brought out the best in CJ. The brilliant Oshun delivered some nice vocals and verses on I Tried. Joey Bada$$ (who's also Jamaican as well as St Lucian) represented on the title track and the rest of his Pro Era partners made appearances on Block Party, Goin Thru and the posse cut closer The PROs.
In terms of technical ability, Pro Era don't mess about when it comes to bars so obviously CJ Fly did his thing on the mic. Content was varied. Standout moments include CJ's storytelling on tracks like Barrell where he talks about traumatic life experiences and Struggling where he raps from the perspective of his father who, as hinted from the title, had difficulties adjusting to his new life overseas. Another notable track was Jooks which was a salute to Yonkers legend DMX as he does an almost-perfect impression of the troubled but talented MC. CJ definitely ain't limited when it comes to subject matter.
I first heard CJ Fly on Don't Front from Joey Bada$$'s classic 1999 mixtape. That joint was produced by Statik Selektah and he produced the whole of Rudebwoy. While some tracks were more soulful and others were more grimy, many were head-nodders. It was like vintage 90's East Coast (or 'boom bap' as some call it) with a modern feel.
Dope beats, dope rhymes. What more could I want? To CJ Fly to get more recognition. A shout for album of the year for sure. I'll give this an 8.5.
FAVES
Beat- Rudebwoy
Verse- Goin' Thru
Feature- Nyckz Caution
Track- Rudebwoy
JADAKISS- IGNATIUS
Mr Raspy returned with his fifth solo LP Ignatius which dropped in late March. His first since 2015, there tends to be a huge time-gap between Jada's projects. While he's a much-respected veteran in the rap game and one of my all-time favourites, his popularity isn't what it was compared to the mid-2000s as this is his only album not to land in the billboard top 5. With that being said times have changed considerably and Jada's always been more about the bars and less about the charts. Anyways keep reading.
Since the 90s Jadakiss, whether solo or with LOX/D-Block (the original... not Adz and Dirtbike), has never stopped supplying heat for the streets. With Ignatius however the Yonkers great seems to be calming down with the Pusha T-assisted Huntin Season being the only real release of rugged rap. The general tone of Ignatius is quite laid-back. The best production was the 'luxury rap' type beats. To describe luxury rap, I would say think J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League or the type of beats you'd hear Rick Ross on... like Kisses To The Sky which features you know who and Angels Getting Pedicured.
On one of the standouts, the 80's soul-inspired Me, Jada spits
'... Who started off movin' that work?
Put you in a black hearse, never had a wack verse? (Me)'
I agree 100% with the above bar and I've been saying for years that Jada's never had a wack verse. This hasn't changed but Kiss is well above spittin' non-wack verses... he can spit some of the dopest stanzas about... Damn near everything he spat in the mid-2000s is proof of this. The bars here were cool for any other rapper but this is a bit below the standard that Jada is capable of. It feels like he was just coasting for the majority of the album. The content might have played a role in this as well with the majority of it being either miscellaneous or for the ladies. Cos of this Jada may have not felt the need to really tear the mic up. His best verses actually came on the more introspective tracks such as Government Cheese and the aforementioned track with Pusha.
One of the strongest points of Ignatius were the features. Every rap feature (from the A-List like Pusha and Rozay to the lesser-known Millyz and Nino Man) was impressive to a point where I couldn't pick a favourite. Want something street? You'll prefer King Push. Feeling like you won the lotto? You'll prefer Rozay. Want something serious? Millyz and Nino Man. Very good line-up... You could argue they outshined Jada which is something I wouldn't have imagined writing. Oh and Ty Dolla $ign never has and probably never will disappoint with the hooks.
Ignatius had a couple dope tracks and it was a decent album overall. I don't know if I'm being too hard or not but I still think the legendary Ruff Ryder's got it in him to make a classic. Jada though seemingly finds himself in a category of dope spitters that for whatever reason can't mould that magnum opus. Maybe he will with his next album... that probably won't drop for another five years. I'll give this a 7.
FAVES
Beat- Angels Getting Pedicured
Verse- Huntin Season verse 1
Feature- TBD
Track- Kisses To The Sky
LIL UZI VERT- ETERNAL ATAKE
The Philly trap star is one of the premier names of the sub-genre. He's known, like many others, for his face tats and piercings. In addition though, his past references to satanism have raised a few eyebrows. You may notice that a popular nickname for the devil rhymes with Uzi Vert. Forgetting all that though, the pint-sized weirdo dropped his highly-anticipated debut Eternal Atake in early March to both critical and commercial success landing at the top of the billboard charts.
Exclusively trap, Eternal Atake is a concept album about space split into three different themes (tracks 1-6 then 7- 12 then 13 onwards). So theme one (the take-off to space) starts off real gassed then after it goes into some EDM-type beats then changes to a mix of either some trippy or gassed production. Bigger Than Life and Prices had some soulful/gospel elements which was cool and Chief Keef impressed with his composing skills on Chrome Heart Tags though I did find Uzi's voice kind of annoying by this point. If Keef Cozart keeps it up, people might start calling him Keith Mozart.
This album was somewhat different to the other trap albums I've reviewed. Other than this album having a concept, the other trap albums I've heard are packed with features but EA only had one. It wasn't another trap artist like Young Thug or his affiliate Playboi Carti but one of my favourite artists Syd from The Internet. Syd's soothing hook and verse certainly made Urgency a better listen.
Some of the production was dope in places and included some of the best beats I've heard on a trap album such as Baby Pluto, Lo Mein and Prices for example. Some of the other beats though were spoiled by Uzi's flow and tone. As mentioned earlier, Uzi is tryna take the listener outer space but if they're playing EDM then I'm making a U-Turn cos I'm Sorry and Celebration Station had me feelin' more outta place than outer space.
Bar-wise, Uzi's not a bad rapper. Most Philly artists can more than hold their own. He's obviously not on the level of someone like Black Thought but he does utilise a bit of multi-syllabic rhyming. EA didn't have much to offer in terms of content. It was the same old 'I get bitches, look at my riches, put my opps in ditches' talk. On the bright side there was no satanic talk. He spoke about past relationships and chick stuff on the EDM tracks as well as on one of the standouts Bust Me. Other than that though, I'm pretty sure Uzi gave his fans what they were expecting.
Decent album. Some dope production in places. I ain't got much to say other that. I'll give this a 7.
FAVES
Beat- Bust Me
Verse- Prices verse 2
Feat- Syd
Track- Bust Me
JAY ELECTRONICA- A WRITTEN TESTIMONY
Perhaps the most enigmatic figure in hip hop, Jay Electronica... fuck that... call him Jay ElecHannukah, Jay Elec Yarmulke... sorry force of habit. I'll start over. Years after blessing the rap world with several instant classics such as Eternal Sunshine, Exhibit A and Exhibit C; the New Orleans God-hop artist known as Jay Electronica... f...inally dropped his debut album at age 43 titled The Written Testimony. Obviously Jay's been a busy guy. I mean he was dating a member of the infamous Rothschild family so I get that he might have forgot that signed rappers are supposed to drop an album or two. Anyways, AWT dropped in mid-March and was well-received by publications. Commercially, it landed just outside the top 10 in the Billboard Charts.
Jay Electronica is known for being a member of the Nation Of Islam and the album kicks off with a speech by the polarizing NOI leader The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan over haunting strings and a high-pitched piano loop.
Although this was released as a solo album, Jay Z features HEAVILY on AWT and drops an abundance of dope verses. Many would argue that the Roc Nation head stole the show. I wouldn't go that far but given that Jay Elec made us wait so long for what is essentially a 9-track album, this should have been 98% Jay Electronica in my personal opinion. With that being said, I did enjoy them going bar for bar especially on the festive Shiny Suit Theory.
The majority of the production was handled by Jay Electronica himself with additional help from heavyweights like Alchemist, Swizz Beats, No I.D. and Hit-Boy.
The sound of AWT is difficult to categorise. It's not boom bap, It's not trap, it's not that dirty south sound that the hot boys (also from Jay Electronica's birthplace of Magnolia projects) were known for but the uniqueness of his sound (along with his stellar lyricism) contributes to what has made him such an alluring figure in the last 10 years.
There were some dope beats though such as the epic blockbuster Universal Soldier, the soulful Fruits Of The Spirit and Ezekiel's Wheel was simply beautiful. The latter sounds like the music you would hear if you were trying to call God and you were put on hold.
If there's one producer I would have wanted to hear on AWT, it would've been Just Blaze without doubt. Another installment to the flawless exhibit series would've been dope. Certainly would've preferred that over Flux Capacitor which was the only wack track (production-wise) on the album. The rest I thought was mostly dope.
At his best Jay Electronica's pen game is of the highest tier. His rich vocabulary, proud references to his Islamic faith as well as the esoteric makes his music most appealing to the hip hop head... or hip hop nerd if those terms aren't interchangeable. After such a long wait for his debut, he speaks about the pressures on The Blinding of the hype surrounding him. He also delivers what sounds like an autobiography on The Neverending Story.
In regards to the former, did AWT live up to the hype? If you were expecting an instant classic like the Exhibit tracks then probably not. With Jigga's heavy input, it might seem like a collab album but even then this was still a quality release and undeniably one of the best albums to come out this year so far. I'll give this an 8.5.
FAVES
Beat- Universal Soldier
Verse- The Neverending Story
Feature- Jay Z- Shiny Suit Theory
Track- Ezekiel's Wheel
SKEPTA/ CHIP/ YOUNG ADZ- INSOMNIA
This was a project that surprised many. UK Rap A-Lister's Skepta, Chip and Young Adz joined forces to record Insomnia which dropped in late March. It landed at No.3 on the UK album charts and was met with positive reviews.
In spite of the contrasting styles with DBE's Young Adz being a trap artist and North Londoners Skepta and Chip being predominantly grime acts, they did merge well together. In what was most likely a mistake, The Intro is the last track and the album kicks off with trap track Mains with Chip coming out the gate to obliterate.
Which leads to the question, who was the MVP of Insomnia? The first couple of tracks I was saying Chip but Skepta came back heavy afterwards. So it's a tussle between the two Totty MC's. I got one criticism for each though, On Demons Chip says
Yo, lyrical niggas on tired beats
I ain't here for that, turn them off (Forget that)
Me and LB in the pool in Ibiza with six gyal, panties off (It's lit)
If Chip Diddy Chip's gonna make them kinda comments then he should at least spit that on a track with a more fire beat and the next rhyme could at least... rhyme lol.
Hold tight Skepta as well. I remember him once rapping 'It's Skepta, I will never sing to the inspector'... I rather Skepta just didn't sing at all tbh cos hearing the BBK leader sing on the chick-friendly Golden Brown was a bit cringey still. To be real I'm getting tired of rappers singing but that's just me innit.
I was pleasantly surprised by the beats. I was expecting a whole bunch of trap and autotune but the production was varied which was good for someone like myself. Yeah the first half was mostly trap but the second half covered sub-genres like drill (Star In The Hood), Mic Check had a garage feel which explains the numerous references to garage classics and High Road had a more traditional hip hop feel. This made for a more well-rounded project. A grime track would've been good though.
In terms of content, we all know what Young Adz is about. This go around an insta model with 4.5m followers and a lesbian (a more PC term) benefited from his LeBron James movements (taking his talents 'down south'). The first half of Insomnia was the typical trap stuff. Balla talk, trapper talk, playa talk and whatnot but room was made for more serious content on tracks like Traumatised and High Road (Young Adz dropping a standout verse on the latter). Basically all the artists showed that they're not one-dimensional.
Before listening to this album, I was kind of expecting the worst. Initially thought this was just an album done for the hype but it's actually quite a good project. The younger audiences will probably appreciate this one more than me but this album did have some moments. Young Adz, Chip and Skepta can sleep well, I'll give this a 7.5.
FAVES
Beat- Insomnia Interlude/ Star In The Hood
Verse- Chip Verse 1 (Mains)
Feature- Dirtbike LB
Track- High Road
WESTSIDE GUNN- PRAY FOR PARIS
The head of Griselda's work-rate can rival any artist, even Lil Wayne during his monumental 2005-2009 run. In the past two years, the self-proclaimed Flygod dropped 8 different projects (including Griselda's debut album last year) with Pray For Paris being his latest release. Dropping in mid-April, it was met with positive reviews which no doubt solidifies Griselda's importance to the game.
Being the flygod that he is, PFP kicks off with the recording of a Leonardo Da Vinci painting being auctioned for a record $400m... I need to buy some paintings... and it kinda sets the tone for the rest of the album because if you know about Westside Gunn, you know he loves extravagance and he spits plenty of that throughout.
The last solo album I heard from Gunn was Supreme Blientele and the most recent project I heard from the Buffalo rapper overall was Griselda's WWCD. What's changed and what hasn't?
Well French Toast is the first tune I've heard from WG that's aimed at the ladies or should I say les dames (Google translation told me that). The Wale-assisted tune is somewhat gritty but the lush piano loop and Joyce Wrice's lovely vocals adds a touch of class to the rugged drums and ad-libs.
One of my fave beats on the album was 327, which featured Joey Bada$$ and Tyler, The Creator. Prior to this, I don't recall hearing WG on a 'lo-fi' beat. It was a standout track though so I wouldn't mind hearing more of this.
Daringer who is Griselda's in-house producer and has featured prominently in previous projects took a backseat this time as he only made one beat. PFP instead saw Westside work with a West Side legend in the NY-born/LA-raised DJ Muggs, a future West side legend in Tyler, The Creator (no G-Funk sounds from either), hip hop's GOAT DJ Premier and most surprisingly Jay Versace. The boy in that meme who took a selfie crying his eyes out? Yes that's the one. None of them disappointed with their contributions. I was actually impressed by Jay Versace's gospel-influenced production.
What's remained is that other than French Toast, WG stays true to his core base and to who he is. That trapper talk, the gangsta talk and the drip talk wasn't gonna go anywhere other than to France with him. I am not complaining. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Regular collaborator The Alchemist came through and dropped 2 tracks. I love a soulful loop but the sample used on $500 Dollar Ounces was a little tedious. He more than redeemed himself on the addictive Claiborne Kick which was a definite standout.
His Griselda family (professionally and personally), Conway and Benny, dropped by to butcher two tracks like the lyrical machines they are.
No WG album would be complete without a Keisha Plum spoken word, a Westside Pootie skit, some WWE skits as well as the best ad-libs in the game right now and none of the aforementioned were absent.
The production was mostly cool as I previously mentioned but there were a few tracks where the beat didn't merge well with WG's vocals.
The feature-list was impressive... maybe too impressive... as bar for bar WG does end up getting outshined by Benny, Conway, Joey, Roc Marciano and also Boldy James. WG can spit though and does drop some entertaining verses.
All in all, it's a good effort by the Buffalo boss and it was refreshing to see WG put at least one foot outside of his comfort zone. No surprise one of the better albums to drop this year. I'll give this an 8
FAVES
Beat- 327
Verse- 327
Feature- Benny The Butcher
Track- Claiborne Kick
As inconvenient as lockdown has been for people the world over, I'm lucky that I'm able to catch up on my reviews. I've almost caught up. Anyways next post should be coming soon.
Peace Out!
