This is one for the Boom Bap heads. Also, this is a prime example of how to do Boom Bap production without it sounding like some stale, dated throwback sound. Fresh, airy, high level beats business by The Arcitype on this whole album. Also, Rasheed Chappell is a PROBLEM!. The album treads the very thin line of having a nostalgic feel, and coupling it with production fitting of it’s time, with absolute ease. Highlights include “Dope Dealer”, “Lullaby”, “Never Change”, “Lucifer in the Candlelight”, and “Make It Out”. The album switches between tales of late night bars, drug dealers, and the street life over dark production, to genuinely uplifting Soulful moments, like on the aforementioned “Make It Out”.
This could be a top 10 AOTY contender, I just need to sit with it for a few weeks, and see if the tracks that seem like filler at this moment, grow into being tracks that I could play more than a handful of times.
I’d definitely recommend taking a dive into this album, especially if you’re hankering for some Boom Bap with substance in 2023.
7/10
DJ Alkemy