This is an exciting day for me. Since I last reviewed him earlier in the year with (What Do Sounds Smell Like?) produced by Uncle Fester, an album that had more anticipation on socials than I’ve ever seen yet!
Since then, he’s been on my radar for a whole variety of reasons I’ll talk about later on, but the fact is I’ve covered albums by him featuring producers like
– Chuck Chan
– godBLESSbeatz
– Uncle Fester
And now Hobgoblin. This proves just how desired and important this MC is to the current culture and now in demand he’s become!
Brand new album by MC extraordinaire Primo Jab! The Willy Wonka of the underground who always keeps the fans guessing! This time with legendary producer Hobgoblin for a sequel to their 2023 album ‘Jabgoblin’.
This new record contains 13 tracks and the likes of
– Con$piracy
– Big Trip
– Lukey Cage
– Liym Capital
– Rufus Sims
– Mondo Slade
– Megaton SP
– Bless Picasso
With this absolute monstrous roster, this thing is bound to be phenomenal!
We will start with the production because I was heavily impressed with Hobgoblin! He’s an absolute genius behind the beats! The way he’s able to make the music itself sound animated and brought to life while maintaining that ‘gritty’ atmosphere is truly remarkable.
For example, we have ‘Resolute’ where we have these menacing horn loops with a slight vocal snippet on repeat with these heavy drums and light pianos in the background BUT also the occasional violin string and some kind of shaker sound deep in the back of the headphones! This is the kind of track that feels alive and breathing.
There’s the track ‘Greektown’ which sounds like Hob literally captured the essence from Italy itself into a bottle and brought it back and released it into the booth.
You’ve got these traditional Italian guitar strings, plucked chords and some beautifully manipulated violin or flute arrangements and mesmerising drums. There’s also a light usage of some female vocal melodies that gives this track an extra sense of angelic energy.
I also love how Hobgoblin separates this song by a few film/tv show dialogue snippets. Makes the track feel that much more ‘down to earth and authentic’. Plus, let’s not forget Big Trip on the feature absolutely nailing the energy and atmosphere of the song! Incredible.
Another track that caught my attention was ‘Zanzibar’ because of its uniquely produced rhythm. You’ve got things such as fast-paced piano keys, deep bass strings, and quite unorthodox drum beats with the occasional hi-hat hit on the track!
This song sounds like a sci-fi ‘between a void and a black hole’ scene in a space movie. Or that scene in SpongeBob when Squidward was trapped in a void after breaking the Time Machine with those words surrounding him. That’s what it sounds like!
This is to say that Hobgoblin is once again showcasing his extraordinary creativity and versatility in the studio, and when paired with an already original Primo? You can’t lose!
Speaking of the man himself, Primo. This man gets me more excited on the mic than most of the industry! Why? Because he’s the definition of ‘original’. As I said in the intro, I’ve covered a handful of his albums, and they all sound different, and that’s because he’s a MC wizard who’s more concerned about experimentation and trying new things than he is doing the same old shit, and that’s why I love him!
Across this album, it’s no different! In these 13 tracks, he presents fresh new ideas, lyrics, and performances that are different from his last album!
Let’s talk trademark features first. As he’s shown in all releases, what they have in common is his solid pen game, his drive and conviction, as well as his smooth flow and god-tier performance and energy! He always sounds like this is his debut project and always hungry!
His vocabulary is always incredibly extensive and limitless! Not one to repeat the same thing twice, every sentence delivered is fresh and interesting because of his ridiculous knowledge and thirst for innovation!
Now onto what separates him. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, he’s never satisfied with just a normal album. The traditional front to back, just tracks. But strangely enough, I wouldn’t call what he does ‘skits’ either; it’s more just intriguing snippets of the most random and fascinating things, and each album is different!
On his album I reviewed with him, and godBLESS he had a snippet about someone arguing trans rights. On his album with Uncle Fester, he starts the fucking album with what sounds like an old head roasting some inspiring rapper!
And on this one, we have stuff like a guy saying he’s finally getting feelings back, and his friend is like, ‘Wait, are you telling me you don’t have feelings?’ Or at the start of ‘Offbrandz’ how it’s some guy, I assume, roasting us talking about ‘go play your PS5 and we definitely judge.’
Like, I feel Primo has a mutant level of ADHD where he uses his powers to dress every album with a touch of fascinating sounds and samples that instinctively make the listener curious about what’s been said.
Legit, when I was first listening to this, I was wishing I had popcorn with me as I was excitedly waiting and listening for the next batch of snippets he’s going to use, as they’ve lowkey become my favourite moments on any Primo Jab album!
All this is to say, Primo is one of those unique cats that has not only built his own lane but has attracted the underground’s elite producers to follow his journey and help create pure sonic bliss. Fuck Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, I wanna visit his brain!
https://primojab.bandcamp.com/album/the-revenge-of-jabgoblin
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