(The Last Shadow In The Shade)

‘Don’t jump on Everybody’s idea of who you should be’

It’s only early February and I can say without much debate that this is by far the best produced album of the year. 

What we have here is the latest album by the legendary ‘Sy Ari The Kid’ a man who has let his skill, experience and quality speak for itself over the years, he’s earned the respect of his peers and of the culture. This time around, he’s here to drop an introspective masterpiece that lyrically delivers on sides that most just couldn’t think to touch.

Running 51 minutes with a 16 song album, one of the longest I’ve covered this year but the album feels more like a theatrical experience than a normal project. What’s more is the fact there’s 12 producers on this one including

-Gr4ff

-Jamar Johnson

-Vntg Jag

-Stoic

-Susano

-Vega7 The Ronin

-Homage Beats

-Pis.j

-Cedes 

-Sypooda

-Grimey Chops

-Sy Ari Da Kid

and yet the cohesive sound they all come together with sounds just like it was made by one guy.

When I listen to this album, it reminds me of Soul Era Kayne mixed with prime Common. Imagine ‘Be’ meets ‘The College Dropout’ absolutely beautiful soul cuts mixed in with some Jazz and Rnb samples. 

When the whole world went crazy to glorify last years ‘Common/Pete Rock’ project. Well this year this is the new standard to meet and I can’t wait for the world to soak and absorb this level of mastery on the production, incredible in every aspect! 

Now, on to the rapping aspect. Not only does Sy give us a Masterclass in the art of rapping with his flawless flow and lyricism and story telling abilities but he has the spirit to invite some of the best rappers in the world right now to test his style against! Such as

-Benny The Butcher

-CyHi

-Freeway

-Nick Grant

-Fuego Base

-Vega7 The Ronin

-Nu Jerzey Twork

-On The Radar

Each man on this list bring their absolute best game to the albums. Fantastic energy, passion and pure pen aggression! They don’t come to play, they come to kill and they all leave the track decapitated!

Overall, this kind of albums comes once in a blue moon. Even with the crazy consistency in the rap game right now this one stands out from most. Whether you’re talking about the production or the features or Sy himself everything is S Tier in quality and surely will be on everyone’s ’Album Of The Year’ list for 2025!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4eTOf8ASPKNkG2VhDNG4KN?si=qfL7N45bRbu44L_6N66T2w