Twelfth studio album by Roc Marciano. The production is entirely done by the Long Island MC, except for "Downtown '81", produced by Jake One. Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson, Stove God Cooks, Kool Keith and Trenttruce are the guests of the edition.
The intro boasts a beautiful string samples, then Roc drops a single verse in the second song, on a slow jazzy rhythm, with a thin and distant drum in the background, great samples, slow and smooth delivery of Roc. "Covid Cough" features a jazzy boom bap with minimal drum and dark and extravagant samples, Marciano delivers with a slow style, Schoolboy Q is smoother and livens up the project. "Wheat 40's" is probably one of his most successful cuts, thanks to a splendid sample and a midtempo drum, boom bap jazzy dope on which the rapper flows well. A wacky experimental beat with outlandish samples and a distant drum greet Action Bronson on track number five, both performers spitting out bars with a slow and flowing style, but the production isn't up to the best ones of Roc.
The guy doesn't give up on his experimental beats in the following two cuts: while the sixth plays discreetly, the producer manages to find a dreamy rhythm in "Butterfly Effect", with a shrill sax sample and a syncopated and distant drum machine. Cooks refreshes the tape in "The Eye of Whorus": boom bap jazzy, extravagant samples, female soul sample in the background, Roc Marciano's slow sliding syncopated delivery, then a sample of the stove to accommodate Cooks, whose delivery is slow-flowing and hardcore. This is followed by the umpteenth experimental production of Roc, with good samples, elegant and eclectic piano, inaudible vinyl sound and no drum. Rock changes the rhythm on the tenth track: boom bap jazzy, distant slow drum, sample rockin', hardcore slow delivery and cumbersome Kool Keith, Roc Marci clearly better, smooth and slow on tense, dark and gloomy samples.
"Baby Powder" is among the best rhythms of the project: jazzy soundscape, distant lean slow drum, splendid samples, elegant piano and soul melodic sample, slow-spoken delivery of Roc. Change of beat mid-cut: experimental jazzy musical carpet, heavy samples, slow syncopated delivery, last verse with vocal synthesizer. The following choice features a dark and tense sample with a very slow drum and slow performance. "Wicked Days" is among the less successful pieces: experimental production with no drum machine, extravagant delivery of Trenttruce, Roc is better, again slow and decent. "Garbage Pal Kids" is Marciano's latest experimental rhythm, light guitar riff, desert sound carpet with sparse drum, decent spoken delivery of the rapper. The following song boasts a distant syncopated drum, tightly looped soul sample, then the title track closes this LP: boom bap jazzy, sample chipmunk soul, good elegant piano in the background, smooth and slow delivery, great outro, where the rhythm breathes freely.
Released by his own label, the album maintains a typical Roc Marciano lyricism, featuring mafioso and braggadocio, gangsta, murder, street life, drugs and battle rap themes. These raw lyrics are performed with a slow, slightly flowing delivery style, and relaxed almost to the point of fatigue in its mild monotony, which allows him to lengthen the feeling of duration of the tracks: this isn't very good on experimental and dark ambient rhythms, which often don't work properly. Looking at the tracklist, there are 16 joints that seem short, rarely going beyond 4 minutes, however, the record swells up to 53 minutes, taking a lot off its replay value. There are fewer strong highlights than the usual Roc records and perhaps with a few less cuts it would have been a record strong enough to be among the best of the season. Nonetheless, it's still not a bad or inessential LP, and it might attract some distracted underground fans: the listening is slow and complex, it doesn't promise you anything, but it's still consistent and robust.
Highlights: "Downtown '81", "Wheat 40's", "Spirit Cookin", "The Eye of Whorus", "Baby Powder", "Mt. Marci".
Rating: 7.4/10.
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