(Flooded Temples)

This album review has been in the making for a while now. I was told about this album a good month or so ago. Circumstances back then wouldn’t let me cover it, but now I finally can, and I’m happy to say this album was definitely worth the wait! Let’s talk about it! 

So, this was an early January 2025 release by rapper Pruven and producer Sizorhandz. Both men I was admittedly unaware of until this project, but two men who have pleasantly surprised me to the point they will be on my radar from now on!

This album has 11 tracks featuring the likes of: 

-DJ M1

-Kenyattah Black

-DJ Toshi

And I’ll be honest, my first initial reaction to listening to this album was how much it reminded me of Billy Woods, but in the best way possible. Pruven has the same ability to make every word he spits feel like cinder blocks in weight. The kind of rapper where he snaps your attention up like that and doesn’t let go until the album is over.

With every song I was listening to, I was captivated by his intense flow, his methodical pace, and intricate lyricism! 

He sounds as well as he stated himself, ‘The Wordplay Messiah,’ and I feel that fits him perfectly. His deep, raw voice enhances the intensity of his bars and verses, and I fucked with that heavy! 

On the production side of things, this is as theatrical and larger than life as it gets. From the cinema-like production quality to the frequent drops of ‘Atlantis’ and ‘Ancient Civilisations,’ which I’ll admit I fuck with HEAVY as a big conspiracy guy, I was legitimately listening to everything that chick they sampled was saying! It had me hella curious!

But moving on, this album mixes elements of: 

-Ambient

-Orchestral

-Grime

-Dark Electronic Keys

There’s so much going on in this album that all together sounds like a soundtrack David lynch would have put together for one of his twisted movies.

Every instrumental draws you in with this dark curiosity and infectious energy and aura. This really is unlike any other project I’ve heard so far this year. 

The Verdict? A fantastic project that, as I said, was worth the wait 10x fold! This just gets me more hyped for future projects by them, and I advise every hip-hop head to give this a try!

https://pruven.bandcamp.com/album/flooded-temples-2