Two albums back-to-back in 24 hours? Damn. Even for them, that’s nuts! I literally just reviewed the latest Fam Ross, and then I found this! Well, let’s get to it!
This is the brand-new project by Arsinel, which, as usual, features the other members of Penlordz, but what makes this album stand out is the production by my main man, ‘DJ Krooked’, a man I have watched the evolution of over the last 3-4 months, and it’s been incredible to say the least. I do remember vaguely him telling me he was working with Penlordz or going to be, but I completely forgot until right now! Regardless, this is some exciting news, and I knew even before I heard it that this was going to be a dope project, and I was right!
Starting with the production. What we have here is DJ Krooked understanding the legends he has in front of him and has made it a priority to make a series of memorably entertaining and powerful instrumentals that contain hints of:
-Ambient
-Jazz
-Classical
-Experimental
-Boom Bap
And the way he mixes and blends each sound and inspiration is nuts! He makes some songs like ‘Trampoline’, which features this haunting, dark sci-fi-reminiscent sound with those high-pitch synth chords and minimalistic that sounds like a score Stanley Kubrick would have made!
Then he makes other tracks like ‘Not A Tool’, which has this sickening heavy bass with these wavy ocean-like vibration chords that make it feel like you’re listening to a song underwater! It’s got those theatrical heavy drums that I really enjoyed as well!
Although I’m a man who generally doesn’t enjoy the use of skits, I like how comic book-resemblance or B-side horror movie these feel! Very tongue-in-cheek, which feels fluent with the rest of the album!
DJ Krooked is a man who is on a mission of improvement, self-reflection, and growth! From where I heard him till now, he’s like night and day. Add in the fact he’s now working with quite possibly the most dominant and skilful trio in the game, period? It’s a wrap. He’s taking over!
Speaking of ‘taking over’, we have one again, Penlordz. Who have used 2025 as their chess game while the world is playing checkers. From insane release schedules to an infinite supply of verses that never feel stale or weak! To the instigating of a culture shift within the underground itself! These three are on a completely different wave entirely from the rest, and it’s ridiculous to be an apart of and witness!
Once again, these three are on point in every single aspect. The bars, the flow, the lyricisms, the rhythms, the chemistry, the themes, the synchronicity— they literally have everything on lock!
There isn’t an aspect of this rap game they haven’t MASTERED. They toss the verses back and forth to each other like child’s play. Shit’s so easy for them, they could probably do it in their sleep!
On this album (and sort of similar to the other Fam Ross album), you can hear the high energy, confident, and borderline flexing aura in their performances! They are the kings to beat, and they know it, and they’ve decided it’s time to flaunt it!
From the sharp verses to the intelligent vocabulary and stunning display of one-liners and puns, there’s nothing they can’t do on the mic, and now they are just mocking the industry with their MC statuses!
A combination I was told about and completely forgot about, and now becoming one of my favourite collaboration efforts of the year, these guys make another solid record with refreshingly original production and enough dope verses to fill up a library (if you count their consistency of this year alone, that line wouldn’t even be an exaggeration).
Check out the album now!
https://open.spotify.com/album/2zkxK5DKHCzQpRkO6fr3am?si=e1pwk0Z1RKGRf_vNTDubNQ
The Serpent Tongue Reviews 