Studio album number sixteen for Statik Selektah. The disc plays on number seven and is his seventh album producer. Participating in the album, among others, Rapsody, Action Bronson, Joey Badass, Your Old Droog, Dave East, Big KRIT, Royce da 5'9", Mick Jenkins, Smif-n-Wessun, Buckshot, Sean Price, Lil' Fame, Skyzoo, Domo Genesis, Termanology, Bun B, Styles P, Wais P, Ab-Soul and Talib Kweli.
Statik Selektah's albums usually start well and run well, but when the intro kicks in, you realize this record isn't going to be as good as his previous efforts, probably. Chicago comedian Hannibal Buress opens the record by speaking on a light beat, then comes Rapsody on "Another Level", delivering a good performance on a bad and raw rhythm. The single "Beautiful Life" is one of the most successful cuts in the edition: opens Action Bronson on boom bap jazzy light, with timeless samples of "Fate" by Chaka Khan, again Bronson with a great flow, closes Joey Badass, in shape, to make the disk banger. Your Old Droog is one of the most talented rappers on the circuit, but the musical carpet that Statik offers him is profoundly poor: it comes out a colorless track with flat, energy-free rapping. In the next song, Dave East gets better results, thanks to an excellent dystopian jazzy rhythm.
Badass and Big KRIT don't kill track number six, which features a Chauncy Sherod hook, while "Crystal Clear" is a Royce solo cut: the guy doesn't look too inspired on a gloomy jazzy boom bap. A solo by Mick Jenkins follows on a good jazzy beat. On the very dark soundscape of "Murder Game", Tek, Steele, Young MA and Buckshot spit a few bars for three minutes, in a choice that looking at the tracklist should be directly among the best moments, but listening to the piece is simply decent, again due to a generic rhythm. When the arms are about to fall out of disappointment, on a claustrophobic bouncy rhythm of Selektah, Sean Price takes the scene in "Gentlemen", piece with Lil' Fame and Illa Ghee. "Bodega!" it's one of the worst tracks in the edition, bouncy beat, mediocre performance of the interpreter.
It follows a generic posse on the beatmaker's deep loop, then comes one also for Statik friend JFK: "xmas" boom bap, JFK keeps a regular level throughout the track, and it's not a foregone conclusion given the previous MCs and especially due to the history of JFK. His chorus is poor, but there's a good cornet solo. Pregnant pause. Statik returns with a severe and bouncy production, the rapper adapts to it and delivers worthily. Your Old Droog returns in "Wall Flowers", but the Boston producer seems to want to joke him and offers him a mediocre energetic rhythm, it sounds so bad that Termanology seems to be the best performer.
"Top Tier" presents a posse with Sean P, Bun B and Styles P: Boot Camp Clik, UGK and The LOX together, it should be yet another obligatory track in the highlights, but at this point, it seems that nothing is taken for granted in this seventh album by Patrick Baril. Heltah Skeltah's MC proves to be the MVP and savior of the project, he blazes the path for the other two guys on this dark album on a light beat, Bun B and Styles P don't sound their best. "Silver Lining" falls into the easy definition of "forgettable song", while "Cold" is little better: Wais P and Jared Evan can't miss an excellent light jazzy boom bap by Statik, but they try hard in every way. "All You Need" is a light jazzy boom bap production, featuring Ab-Soul and Action Bronson with Elle Varner. Talib Kweli easily stands out in "Scratch Off", then Joey Badass has the eighth and final solo choice of the edition, Statik had never left so many: the Pro Era rapper runs smoothly on a hard-jazz rhythm and gives a tribute to friend Capital STEEZ. The tape ends with a dedication from the producer to his daughter.
The tape, consisting of 21 tracks, is still too long by modern standards, with 70 minutes of listening: the record is based on East Coast rhythms, however, the production chosen by Statik is very generic and tasteless and most of the performers don't sound as inspired as in his previous producer albums. The result is very erratic and disappointing, just decent, not recommended, even if there are interesting moments scattered a bit at random.
Highlights: "Another Level", "Beautiful Life", "Gentlemen", "Top Tier", "Alone".
Rating: 6/10.
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