(Jestures)

I’ll be honest with you. There is a very small amount of artists out there in Hip Hop that I’d be happily willing to listen to a one-hour and 11-minute project, and this duo is definitely one of them! They age like a fine wine and have only gotten better with age, so let’s talk about it!

This is the brand-new release by the legendary duo featuring MC Slug and Producer Ant. With their first album dropping in 1997! They have literally been making music for almost 30 years, and that’s an incredible feat all on its own! With this new album, we have a whopping 26 songs and the likes of 

– Evidence

– Haphduzn

– Curious

– Mike The Martyr 

– Musab

– Muja Messiah

– WHY?

– Zoodeville 

on the roster to help push this album into incredible new heights, and I can’t even front this project was and is unbelievable!

Starting with the production side of things, I don’t know what Ant took to make the music on this album, but it sounds so blissful, nostalgic, heartfelt, and deep in ways no other producer has been able to fit before! I’m hearing combinations of 

– Soul

– Synth

– Funk

– Jazz

– Old School Hip Hop

– Ambient and more! The way he’s able to combine so many different inspirations and elements into one record is ridiculous. I know he’s been doing this for close to 3 decades, but no matter how often he drops, he never sounds stale or overdone. 

He’s always finding new ways to impress and stun! For example, the track ‘Caddy’ where we hear that almost ‘Tribe Called Quest’ call back with that soft Jazz instrumentation with that funky bass and old-school scratches and cuts! 

Or even the track ‘Effortless’ which takes a more heartfelt direction with a throwback to the 80’s Synth Pop sound with those wavy synth chords, hard-hitting drums, and cold chords! 

This one puts you into your feelings and makes you reminisce about the good old days! Not to mention that flawless feature verse by Evidence! 

Or if we look at the track ‘Heavy Lifting’ which utilises that smooth soul sample mixed with a classical vibe with those violin strings and those delicate piano keys but combined with those high-pitch vocals and thick bass lines! 

This is one of those intricate beats that feels high class and prestigious! 

Point is, Ant with all his experience to use has found a way to always keep the crowd entertained and full of love, life, and passion with a range of interesting and refreshing inspirations and choices to keep you on the edge of your seat with every song!

Now, come on. What can I say about the legend Slug that others haven’t? To say he’s a GOAT is just common knowledge in this day and age, and the fact he hasn’t watered down or become mid in all these years is actually a phenomenal feat, and that same level of surprise is in this album because he somehow sounds better than I’ve ever heard him!

He’s embraced his life and experience to create the perfect verses that feature his trademark social commentary, introspective view on life, and his quirky and personal stories about anything from describing his first ever car to calling out ‘assholes’ to how people treat him like a ‘baby’. 

I love Slug because he doesn’t think or act like anyone else before or after. He’s in his own lane in the way he writes and performs his rhymes. It’s as if he has an endless supply of ideas and thoughts, perspectives, and opinions that just happen to rhyme.

He never sounds like an MC more than he does a man fascinated with life and has the desire to record his every thought over beats. A modern-day Socrates over hip-hop production, and this album further pushes that theory!

Of course, smooth flow, flawless pen game, and a charisma he’s been growing for decades to the point no one can ever hope to match!

Somehow, for the whole length of the record, I was never bored or drained. This didn’t drag at all! I found myself completely entertained and deeply interested in the verses and fascinating beats! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/5RdKL9Np2wD2HtHHedGcMN?si=EI9JTEbaTSy_crpDfQ5nRQ