Man, this is an exciting day for me! Why? Mainly two reasons.
- I get to cover an album that is the prequel to the sequel coming soon!
- I get to hear the rap duo of the same partnership I covered last month!
So the way I see it, it’s a win-win situation for me and in saying that, let’s get into it!
This is the April 18th drop by the MC duo of Concept and Basik. They dropped eight tracks with 20 minutes of content with the likes of
-Chris Crack
-Apbeatz
-Siiilk
-DnD Productions on the production and the likes of
-Hunter Dollars
-Cypher The Avatar
-Lyrikill on the mic and I can’t lie man, this thing is incredible. I’m bummed I didn’t check this out earlier!
This thing feels different than the rest of Concept’s drops purely because it has a more funky, jazz vibe which I absolutely love and adore! Considering there are a few producers on here, there’s always the risk of non-syncing across the board but thankfully this project doesn’t suffer from that problem!
Right from the opening track ‘Play After Play’ we have those lively instrumentation with those colourful jazz notes in the background, trap beats and hypnotic keys in that loop that mesmerises the brain! Everything combines on this track makes for the perfectly executed intro to the album!
From there we have tracks like ‘As The Wind Blows’ which features continued jazz notes with an incredible and free-lance jazz passage that has the most infectious loop note that I get excited for every time I hear it coming!
On top of that we have these funk-style drums and subtle and light keys!
This thing is definitely more melodic than the intro and continues the wave of pure music this album has to offer!
We can even look at tracks like ‘Roll It Up’ which has this amazing ambient meets synth pop vibes which had me buzzing! Imagine Wiz Khalifa ‘Kush and OJ’ combined with Tears For Fears ‘Songs From The Big Choir’ and you’d get this song!
It’s got elements from all my favourite kinds of music rolled into one stoner extravaganza, and it’s probably my favourite track on the album!
Needless to say, the production hits on a new level of atmosphere on this record. It’s flavourful and colourful in ways I didn’t know Concept could bring together! This is a MUST LISTEN.
Now, to bring up the MCs, as expected (and as I experienced on their most recent effort together), Concept and Basik showcase incredible chemistry and performances over these phenomenal beats!
They match each other’s raw energy and charisma in a way not many else can, and they feed off that synchrony to create dope back-and-forths that ignite the tracks.
They both have those cutthroat bars, visual bars, dope one-liners, phrases, and bars as well as flow so fluent you’ll feel like an ocean is flooding the tracks!
As well as these two, there are a few other names joining the party to help rock the boat and match and elevate the album into new territory! Also featuring terrific chemistry with the main two and, on top of all that, match the mood of the instrumentals! (Which is very important.)
After hearing these two on ‘Hash For The Sol’, I was impressed, but after hearing them absolutely explode on this level of production, it made me respect their work on a brand new tier of brilliance that has now made me even more excited for part two!
A fantastic album by everyone involved. It’s lighthearted, groovy, and has enough replay for years! Shoutout to everyone involved!
https://open.spotify.com/album/7gBxLAdoINIcrS21YlxIWD?si=uJESumXkQ5OHcExSZA9T4A
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