(BōRYOKU)

This album has me more excited than most. After hearing the two singles that dropped leading up to this, I had feelings that this would be a larger-than-life project, and not only was I right, but this album defied all expectations I could have possibly had! We gotta talk about this one!

Brand new collaboration by producer Blaq Medici and MC Agallah The Don, and across these 11 tracks, we have what I would consider the best modern day re imagining of the Wu-Tang: Enter 36 Chambers/GZA: Liquid Swords formula we’ve seen, period.

Because we have a perfect combination of Japanese Yakuza and its history with Hip Hop, and done in such a refreshing way that it feels like they are re inventing the wheel with this record!

We start things off with that incredibly powerful intro about the history of the Yakuza and all its variants. What I love most about this intro is, as epic as it is, the final line being ‘The Yakuza Insists on a ruthless code of silence’ only for the song to start right after this.

To go from ‘Code of Silence’, I found to be a fun, ironic segment that was probably not intentional, but regardless.

As the album officially starts, we get Blaq’s iconic and larger-than-life brand of music fusions that include elements of 

– Jazz

– Neo Soul

– Gospel

– Funk

– Classical

– Opera

– Ambient and more. While also maintaining the presence of the Yakuza through interludes and outros that provide a small spoken snippet of the organisation and their impact/discipline.

What separates Blaq from the rest is his devotion and power within the music. He’s not satisfied with just making ‘good music’, but he’s insisting that every beat feels like a cinematic score you’d experience Tarantino to use. 

I’m not kidding, this whole album feels theatrical in every one of its pours! It’s vivid, expressive, powerful, and beautiful all in one. 

The music itself feels like it’s running through your bones and taking over your brain and soul for the duration of the record. As far as I’m concerned, he ain’t a producer, he’s a fucking composer. A genius who can inherit his inner RZA and combine the two worlds of Japanese Underwood and creative hip hop to produce this sonic child that has the perfect influence of both.

This whole record flows perfectly. There’s not a single flaw or awkward transition to be spoken of. It’s all one rhythm and one atmosphere, and it’s fucking beautiful to witness.

Of course, accompanying this composer is MC and wordsmith Agallah The Don. As much as the two singles I covered impressed me, it doesn’t touch how much I was blown away by his performance on the full length.

He’s just so fucking fluent! Absolutely no break in his style, and he’s the perfect combination of groundbreaking and intricate! He can run through these tracks at 100 miles an hour like a juggernaut! But can breeze through the instrumentals like a child brushing against a flow field, no damage inside.

Meaning, he’s sharp and lethal lyrically but simultaneously introspective and thought-provoking in his process. He’s the best of both worlds!

I love his style; it feels like depending on the given song, he can showcase a specific cadence. On some songs, he’s fast-paced and vivid in imagery; in other songs, he’s more methodical and surreal in his approach. 

Someone who can transition differently depending on the song’s mood is someone rare in the industry! It means he’s multi-layered! 

The one song that stuck out to me the most was ‘Day Ones’ because it features Sadat X, and the chemistry between Sadat and Agallah is absolutely incredible! I felt that vibe through my whole skeleton, and it gave me goosebumps!

Look, this isn’t an album. It’s a movie told in a sonic perspective. The composing is ridiculous, the verses even more so, and the features on point! If this doesn’t belong on the ‘AOTY’ list, I don’t know what will!

Shoutout to the features

– Sadat X

– DJ Radiohead

– Planet Asia

– Thelonious Coltrane