Resounding, unexpected and welcome return to form for Elcamino, rapper from Buffalo, New York, who comes from a downward trend born between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, shortly after the releases "Elcamino 2" and "Money for Bail". From then on, he made a fall that seemed to have no end between half-rnb releases, wailing hooks and uninspired bars performed in spoken word. I was starting to fear listening to other badly sung rnb albums by him and therefore ignoring his releases, starting with this one.
The Buffalo MC forgoes the hook most of the time, returns to rapping with a slow, confident, solid style, and performs best on excellent production provided by Camoflauge Monk: excellent samples, a midtempo drum that returns to raise the right amount of dust and dirt, gentle strings, soul extracts, light jazz loops, pianos. The guests are Billie Essco, Meyhem Lauren, Boldy James, Skyzoo and Jae Skeese: no one disappoints in an album that has a somewhat subdued, sad, melancholy atmosphere. "3 Kings" boasts the finest beat, on which guests Skyzoo and Jae Skeese go wild, both in shape, inspired, especially the last one. Two good solo pieces follow: "We Loyal to Ours" boasts a crunchy drum and a lively piano sample, Elcamino delivers fluid and energetic, then decides to place a sung hook, okay, he held out long enough. There would also be a song number seven, "Not by Sight": dry, hard, heavy and thin midtempo drum, sad melancholy elegant piano, laudable soundscape, hardcore delivery of Elcamino, King Ralph closes the tape.
7 tracks, 19 minutes, everything works here, even that sung hook. The cover is among the brightest in the hip-hop year, even if, it exists an alternative version with the background orange-purple colored, that seems a tribute to that one of the Kid Cudi debut. That said, I think it's one of his latest gifts to the die-hards as a straight-rap tape or so, before going back to try with that thing about singing and do rnb efforts, so, my pessimism about his future releases doesn't subside, and indeed, increases with each new listening to this good tape. 7.5/10.
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