Heem — Long Story Short

Heem emerges into the underground rap scene during 2020, as rapper on Benny the Butcher's Black Soprano Family, debuting with a solo album at the end of the year: the whole project is rooted in Buffalo, with DJ Green Lantern and DJ Shay serving as producers, Benny the Butcher, Rick Hyde and Amber Simone as guests on the record, along with Detroit MC Boldy James, the revelation of the year.

NY beatmaker IceRocks provides the first beat of the edition, a gloomy jazzy boom bap with dark samples, to accommodate Heem's slow delivery. The second rhythm is made by DJ Shay, light and mafia jazzy beat, with thumping midtempo drum and excellent gloomy-noir samples, however, the style of BSF rapper doesn't seem to complement adequately the chosen production. "The Realest" boasts a great noir-mafia rhythm, IceRocks light boom bap with slow and pounding drum machine, Benny lets the rhythm breathe and attacks it with a smooth, confident, hardcore flow, bringing the track to a safe shelf from which it will not be able to fall when he leaves it alone to make room for Heem and his wobbly and uncertain flow, here slightly better than usual. Boldy James offers a monotonous, velvet and unstoppable flow in the next choice, jazzy noir soundscape with good samples and hard and pounding midtempo drum chosen by DJ Shay. The fifth track is one of the less successful: IceRocks' jazzy beats, light samples, Heem's lame hook and sluggish and weak, slow and choked, amateurish delivery.

TrickyTrippz provides good rhythm in "Menace to Society", dark-noir sample tense in the background, pounding drum machine, but on this boom bap Heem delivers weakly. DJ Shay produces the latest cut in "Sacred Night", splendid jazzy boom bap with vibrant and light drum machine, samples of dark, noir and tense horns, this beat is wasted by the weak and sluggish delivery of Heem, who doesn't give up to perform the lame chorus. The eighth song is a Black Soprano Family cut, with Benny the Butcher & Rick Hyde assisting Heem: Jansport J's beat, dark samples, light drum, good regular delivery from Butcher, Rick Hyde also boasts a good flow similar to that of Griselda MC, less well Heem. "My Diary" is a good joint with an honest musical carpet from Green Lantern and a good hook from Amber Simone, but the spitter's syncopated delivery lacks the right personality. DJ Green Lantern creates a dry, slow drum with light, dark samples for the tenth song, Heem brings out another sluggish and lazy delivery, ruining the piece. The tape ends with "Letter to Shay", a tribute to the producer who passed away a few months earlier.

Tape of 35 minutes and 11 tracks, it boasts a production that lives up to the Griselda sound, however, the delivery leaves much to be desired: Heem doesn't feel almost ready to release the record, his style stumbles, falls, softens in the second part, flowing lazy and weak, wasting some pretty solid beats.

Highlights: "The Realest", "Mayhem", "It Could Happen".

Rating: 6/10.