I’ve decided to take this time to cover a record that dropped before my website did, but one that I felt shook the culture in a way I’m not many others did that year or this one. In my opinion, it’s his best album of that year and the last that left the biggest influence on me from all his releases since!
This was the 22nd of August 2024 album by Umbrella’s own Mickey Diamond! A sequel to his 2022 ‘No Liquor Before Twelve’ and the second album out of three to come out in 2024, and features the producers such as:
– Mickey Diamond
– Big Ghost Ltd
– Snotty
– Influence Prod
– BEX
– Profound79
– SB11
– 88 Blessed
– Mallory Knox
– Drill Kid Productions
– Ral Duke
And on the MC front, we have Umbrella brother Big Trip, and honestly, this one left the biggest impression on me because of how heavy Mickey dove into the concept of alcoholism and throughout the whole 52 minutes never really escaped the severity of it.
Whether that be the use of skits and intros such as the woman talking about how she hates being judged for drinking by weed/smoke addicts or using such simple magic such as the ‘99 bottles song’ sung before the start of a track.
In the song ‘Drunken Master’, we have that drunk driver who is pulled over by the police. As well as this, throughout the whole record, we get lyrical references and personal details ‘true or otherwise’ of how alcohol has affected his life.
Mickey’s records aren’t normally known for their personal details, so this album felt like a tragic but refreshing dive into the mind and thoughts of Mickey, and that’s probably why this album stood out to me the way it has.
Also, when talking about the production, although there’s a handful of people working on the beats, it all comes together in this soulful, old-school Hip Hop vibe that features luscious instrumentation with larger-than-life sounds and snippets that make you feel like you’re listening to a cinematic documentary.
Some of my favourite tracks include ‘Scrotch Castle’ because A: it has this really sick intro about this guy who’s checking up on Mickey like it’s an intervention call. Again, another example of Mickey diving deeper than he ever has lyrically.
B: I love Big Trip’s verse and brutal adlibs on the track! (If I’m not mistaken, this was my first time hearing Trip.)
C: That smooth instrumental I think about maybe once a week. We have that gorgeous vocal harmony, those plucked strings that go off in that face-lashed towards the end of the loop, is infectious as fuck!
Another song is ‘The Hangover’ purely because it’s the one track by Mallori. It’s no surprise her work (The Ric Flair projects) are my favourite Mickey projects, period. On this album, she brings back that same magic with this stripped-back and minimal beat with short, cut vocal harmonies in a loop with some choir vocals in the background, grand chords, and subtle drums and bass lines!
This is the perfect example of the ‘less is more’ theory, and of course, she has perfect chemistry with Mickey.
I don’t know why I decided to review this after a year, but after re-listening to it, I felt I had to. I felt it was my responsibility to remind those who have forgotten during this down period the chokehold he had on the industry and to take this brief period of silence with a grain of salt.
Once he’s back, he’s taking over!
https://open.spotify.com/album/3cecKKjXC1U31JkctGojYu?si=3GaoKqQtTouhOyW-zQdOow
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