Statik Selektah's eleventh studio album, released with rnb singer Jared Evan, from Great Neck, Long Island, on his first album. Entirely produced by Statik, the album features the collaboration of Lil' Fame, Joey Badass, Action Bronson, Wais P, Hoodie Allen and Termanology.
The first cut boasts an excellent jazzy boom bap mixed with blues, Evan performs singing the first part on an excellent beat, then delivers in rapping in the second part, with mixed results. The rapper of M.O.P. Lil' Fame is the first guest of the edition, in the second song: he opens in the scratched intro, Jared Evan sings then raps on a great mix of boom bap and blues that wants to go towards hardcore, attracted by Fame in the last verse, which the MC delivers with a hardcore style creating a nice contrast to the light beat chosen by the beatmaker. Among the experimental rhythms provided by Lawrence's producer, "The Devil Wears Prada" is the least successful of the entire album: boom bap jazzy with blues elements, heavy rhythm, Evan sings two verses and raps the third, with a weak flow. It perceived the absence of a performer who can deliver well in rapping, arrives in the fourth song: boom bap jazzy-light blues, the rnb singer starts as ever, then Joey Badass enters cold and lucid on this production and leaves an imprint with a dry, clean, devastating flow. He delivers with a style of other times, brings the song back to the golden age, great job.
"Pro Create" features an excellent jazzy-blues boom bap by Statik Selektah, Action Bronson kicks off the dances, but is little present on the track, hints at something between hook and closure, the rest is left to the verses sung by Jared Evan. The sixth song is quite weak, Statik as usual doesn't miss the rhythm, mixing jazz, soul and blues, Evan performs better singing than rapping, then there's Wais P who adds little to the track. In "Toast" there's nothing to note: usual Statik rhythm, usual Evan singing, usual rap guest. Hoodie Allen. I've never heard of him nor listened to him. I read that he's from New York. Here he doesn't hurt, but I don't think he's doing good. Statik simply paves him with alternative blues / jazz rhythms, creating an extraordinary bridge. The eighth track sees the presence of Termanology, the last guest of the disc, on one of the most generic songs of the project, and the rapper here isn't even inspired, certainly not at his best. Evan alternates between rap and sung also in the next track, on an excellent jazzy / blues boom bap by Statik Selektah, a masterpiece: the Long Island guy here doesn't have a bad flow like he used to, but he's even better when he sings. "Sunday" closes the project, Jared Evan chooses exclusively to deliver singing, in fact you feel the greater tranquility of him, on a timeless boom bap by Statik that mixes jazz blues and soul. A bonus track follows, "Bad News", simple cut, Statik boom bap blues, Evan singing performance.
After many solid and discreet projects, with some excellent extracts, Statik Selektah attempts his most experimental record so far and mixes boom bap & blues together with Jared Evan in ten short tracks: the result is erratic and, after a few spins, disappointing and even boring. The addition of some competent guests (Fame, Badass) is a great help to the project, these guys manage to save the tracks and overall, even the entire project, safely ferrying it away from the stagnant waters where the friends of Statik would hold back and then happily sinking. Personally, I find the beatmaker's production to be solid with several sublime traits, so, probably, a fan of the producer might like it. On the other hand, Jared Evan is an acceptable singer, nevertheless, his choice of rapping half the time soon turns out to be unfortunate, because his performance isn't good, even if better than some guests.
Rating: 5.5/10.
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