Walter Reed also known as Killah Priest, rapper of Almighty, Black Market Militia, The Four Horsemen, Maccabeez, Moon Crickets and Sunz of Man, a Killa Bee in summary. Wu-Tang is Forever, but Killah Priest takes the concept to another level. Wu-Tang is Ethereal, despite the man being "only" an affiliate.
Fans will never remind you that this dude came very close to being the ninth member, then Masta Killa stayed all night writing his verse for "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" and got the last available spot in the Clan. Nor will the insiders remind you, cynically. Nor will I do it on other occasions, when I go to rediscover the gems that Reed has churned out during his thirty-year career.
He arrives with an album in 2020 and in an unexpected way, as his latest works had been easily ignored by critics: this effort is no exception and the few specialized reviewers who have found themselves forced and reluctantly to have to listen to and review it, they cut it down because of its cloud / ambient rhythms, which they aren't grateful for. Not only this is the great peculiarity of this Killa Bee album, is also one of its strongest strengths: the production is close to ambient, downtempo, light, breathes ethereal vibes and happily lets some excellent soulful samples circulate that lightly drag the regular spoken delivery of Killah Priest.
The lyricism of the artist isn't too different from the usual, he brings out continuous metaphysical and conscious lines, for the most part abstract, which is why he earns easy comparisons with Jay Electronica: if the MC of Houston had dropped this same album would have quickly been hailed as one of the best records of the last twenty years, however, while I write, it's still largely ignored by everyone, despite being completely devoid of weak cuts. I leave below some of the songs that personally stand out within this edition, but overall, it's seventy-five minutes essential if you are interested in 2020 hip-hop.
Highlights: "Starring Directly into the Sun", "The Wonderful You", "Memoirs", "In Secret Anticipation", "Andromeda", "Bob Ross", "Grandmother's Land", "The Arrival Home" and even the outro which is splendid, splendid.
Rating: 9/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment