Killah Priest — Planet of the Gods

In 2015, Killah Priest releases a new album. The disk is entirely produced by Dutch production team Godz Wrath and has no guest appearances. Recorded between 2013 and 2015, is released by Proverbs Records.

The Brooklyn rapper continues to wander happily in his own personal playground made of abstract lyrics understandable only by himself and intriguing rhythms provided by trusted friends with whom he had already made a strong (double) comeback album a few years earlier.

It's not an album for everyone, and this continues to be the only common denominator in the albums of this mysterious and virtually inaccessible artist, who never tries to find a new audience and broaden his niche, rightly so in my opinion, even if this has its notable and clear downsides. As the only link to a past from which the emcee has tried unsuccessfully to distance himself over the years, the boy returns to place the Wu-Tang Clan logo, visible in yellow next to his name at the top left of the cover for the first time on one of his albums since he released his debut, over fifteen years ago.

Indeed, both lyrically and musically, the album tries to mirror that debut album, but fails. Where there was a 4th Disciple at the top of his career and impeccable that didn't make any mistakes, here is Godz Wrath, the production team doesn't seem focused on each track, which is why it comes out offering an inconsistent musical quality with peaks of high quality followed by rhythms that don't work or stutter, sometimes saved by the author's execution.

While on his debut, Killah Priest was at the hungriest point of his recording career, having to prove that he, indeed, would have deserved that damned ninth place in the Clan if he hadn't fallen asleep and Masta Killa had stayed awake to write and then spit out his verse in the studio, and then actually proving that he was worthy of the group's name, building a solo and independent career that the other members of the group can only envy in retrospect (with the sole exception of Ghostface Killah), here the rapper decides to prove that he can handle an entire twenty-track album on his own and without guests, and his feat is only half-successful, as at times he sounds a little duller than he should.

The album does indeed feature some solid tracks, some masterpieces, but most of the songs are average and below (his) average, despite not featuring any truly bad tracks. This remains yet another Killah Priest album recommended for fans, the only ones who can truly appreciate it, but still inaccessible to the casual listener. 7/10.