Category: Reviews

GAME OF DEATH by Gensu Dean and Wise Intelligent

What I expected:

The most knowledgeable lyrics being spit, challenging my thoughts and spirit.  Given that this work was with Gensu Dean, I expected some charging beats, and soul samples.

 

What I heard:

From the top, I was surprised at the slow crawl of a beat for “WTF?” was used as the opening beat. I would have figured that Gensu would have switched to another track , like the first single “G.O.D. (Game of Death)”’ or the relentless charge of “Ever so Lightly.” The plead for better content in the hip hop world in “We Are” (where also he warns of “Neighbors are gentrified, scientific genocide, the ethnic cleansing your contention cause this shit so well designed”) and “Damn” (disappointment with current hip hop and Africa Bambaata scandal) are similar, and stick to the tone throughout the album. Mental gems that examine society are inputted throughout the 10 track, 34 minute album.

Wise Intelligent’s rapid fire flow is consistent throughout the album, imprinting the idea that he has never lost his skill. For anyone who hasn’t heard from him since the 90s, this might be a surprise.  This is his third album in the last 2 years, first since February’s “The Blue Klux Klan”, and first with producer veteran Gensu Dean on Mello Music Group.

Sharp skills, and a mind that scatters across may things at a speedy pace were not a surprise. In general, Wise Intelligent’s flow graces across black social commentary, being an aggressive advisor to perceived downfalls that include low quality hip hop, race-based hate, and missed messages.

Black fear is strongest track, touching on all that has been taken from the back community and the reasons to be afraid to believe in self and better things.  The lack of soul samples and light hearted topics lend to the overall feeling of the album, which is definitely dark.  Though “Amen” and “Ooh Wee(Shakiyla part 4)” are less dense, they are still laced with more warnings of pitfalls of society.

For Gensu Dean’s part, he usually comes with a mixed bag of musical treats.  On this album, absent are the vocal samples and funk guitar peices that he has worked with on past albums.  To match with Wise Intelligent’s fast-paced flow, he has reached for medium tempo, hard hitting drum beats coupled with a variety of sounds including chilling piano pieces and keyboards.  His best displays come in the music supplied for “Oooh Wee(Shakiyla Pt. 4)” and “Amen”.

 

Creativity – 65%

Production – 85%

Track Separation – 60%

Decent Percentage – 100%

Overall – 78%

 

Summary:

 

While I am highly satisfied with Wise Intelligent’s delivery and Gensu dean beat selection, I still wanted more from them.  I wanted Gensu to challenge Wise more, and I wanted Wise to contain his thoughts into each track more.   There was a long stream of negative thoughts on today’s music.  While this is entertaining, it slowly eased across the album as opposed to being sharply sectioned off to 2 or 3 tracks.  I also wish that he could have spoken more specifically to each of of his through, like a whole song dedicated to one, instead of sprinkling them all over like cupcake toppings. While cutting the sped-up vocal samples was a good move in my opinion, i wish that Gensu had challenged Wise more. All in all, it is album that provides a blunt opinion on black society and the state of hip hop, and is an upgrade to Wise Intelligent’s recent efforts.

RETURN OF THE DON by KOOL G RAP, released June 2nd 2017

What I expected:

Well, from the title, I did formulate a picture that included reaches back to the “4,5,6” album, and mentions of movie gangsters while G Rap maintains a strong flow.   I wasn’t expecting a rival to the illustrations of “Cuban Linx” or evenness of a more recent crime testimony, “Pinata” by Madlib and Freddie Gibbs.  I felt that the strength of the album rested in production and G Rap maintain the level of rhyming that he’s known for.

What I heard:

To tell a tale of the street life, one must be genuine in the words that they speak, and aggressive in how they present in.  A song or album about the street life can getboring quick if there aren’t detailed pictures painted or a balance between struggle and visions.

In past albums, New York rapper Kool G Rap has been no slouch at doing such.  I mean, he’s been doing this for almost 30 years.  He’s had practice.

Kool G Rap is rhyming as strong as ever throughout the album as his rides the musical selections, solely provided by Canadian Hip Hop Producer, MoSS.

The album is mostly a variance of mid-tempo beats that explore sounds from a flute to a driving guitar as the basis.  At times, I was envisioning “12 Reasons to Die” series by Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge.

There are strong guest verses throughout the album, most notably Fred Da Godson as he easily graces the beat on “Mack Lean”.  Crooked I/Kxng Crooked delivers a great verse on the 70’s soul-injected “World is Mine”. “Capitol Hill” features strong bars from Sheek Louch and Cormega, and a great testimonial of how ugly things can get in the hood, and how lavish it can become if the cards fall right.

There is nothing unexpected or surprising from through the course of the album, aside from a tight Sean Price verse.  At 49, Kool G Rap has found his lane, and has decided that it works.  There are no updates to his similes, and some stand dated(comparisons to Gary Coleman, long retired NBA Darryl Dawkins and long dead actor River Phoenix).  He mentions at the beginning of the album that the gangster shit that he spits is thought of by him as “reality rap”, which was a common reference term in interviews by his contemporaries many years ago.

Highlights

–   the music , use of flute” on “Mack Lean”.  Strong verse by Fred Da Godson

–  very strong production

–  Kool G Rap is consistent in his appearance  and wordplay on his records, despite the long list of guests.

–        

Wishlist

• Broadening horizons.  I wish that there were some younger artists collabing with him.  THere are a lot of angles that could have been taken with this.  Either to show younger artists that are descendant of his multi-syllable legacy, or a mentoring track of criminality rap.
• Storytelling
• A ghostface collabo
• Varied themes

 

Creativity – 65%

Production – 80%

Track Separation – 65%

Decent Percentage – 100%

Overall – 78%

 

Summary

 

It is a very listenable selection.  Kool G Rap doing what he’s been known to do for years.  There was a lot of help, and there were no surprises.  In some cases, if it aint broke, there shouldn’t be repair.  While I am very curious on how current activities by politicians, NYPD and other factors speak to the streets, he does come up with some of his strongest recent material.   I would have liked a visit to his storytelling practices, but I did hear quality delivery and strong production.   There is no doubt that Kool G Rap is able to hold his own in current times.