Although this isn’t my first time, I find myself needing to go back in time and either re visit or discover an album that has been out for months or sometimes even years! With so many submissions, it’s impossible for me to get to everything, but sometimes the best albums are the ones I didn’t get the first time around! With that in mind, let’s talk about this one!
This is the July record by MC JRoberts and producer Ol Man 80zz, and together they dropped a ten-track just under 30-minute project with the likes of
-KIIIA
-Hus KingPin
-Benny The Butcher
-Ren Thomas
-T.F
And mixed and mastered by fucking FUTUREWAVE!
And with this fatal 5-way roster behind him, he steps out the gate with a record that is as deadly and dangerous as any other record you’ll hear in 2025!
If we start from the production side of things, we see Ol Man utilise these deliciously minimal loop-based beats with a handful of small layers to complement the stripped-back approach!
For example, we have tracks such as
The intro track ‘Paint The Battles’ in which we see this looming, dark presence take over the field. You have that haunting spoken word track! Alongside this deep bass lines, a sprung chord progression on loop, and an overall eerie vibe to kick the track off with!
As the spoken word ends, we get layers of some vocal choir and drums so heavy it feels like a kick in the stomach! A fantastic way to introduce the record!
We can even look at the second track ‘Tactical Dispositions’ where we get a more old-school 1960s vocal sample loop that is angelic as all hell!
Combined with that, we have these funky piano chords that remind me of a Stevie Wonder track! Combine that with some more bass and jazz-style horns in the background that complement the aesthetics of the track even further!
Or we can even look at the track ‘Waging War’ which has that otherworldly vibe to it. An alternative realm of somber feelings and danger around every corner! A true boom-bap trademark formula we have those glorified piano keys, heavy bass, and that consistent synth notes that run through the track!
As the song goes on, we have what sounds like a vocal harmony very subtle in the background! This is a true raw and gritty turn across the record that made me instantly mean-mug the world!
Speaking of mean-mugging, we have JRoberts, a man so savage and masterful he forces contemporaries and fans alike to mean-mug the world as he spits his overwhelming bars and verbal assaults that only he can pull off!
This album feels like the magnum opus for the man as he comes through with some of the most detailed, in-depth, and sharp lyricism I’ve heard all year! He sounds like the rent is due and only this record and his performance here will solve the problem!
He’s rapping like it’s his last, I’m talking that heavy vocabulary, that flexing of various styles, and in-your-face approach to his raps.
I’m talking that smooth, clean flow alongside his versatile punchlines, one-liners, smart set-up bars, and everything in between.
He’s out here rapping like a poet! His vivid lyricism makes you feel like you’re right there with him in his shoes! He can switch between emotional cuts to straight savage street raps to more introspective verses that make you think! He can do it all, and he expresses his various abilities on this album!
The features he brought on this album speak to his confidence as an MC! Because any of those five rappers could out-rap your favourite on any given day, so the fact they all appear on this record is overkill to say the least, and yet JRoberts holds his own, maintains his conviction and passion on the tracks, and raps toe-to-toe with those powerhouses!
I really wish I had listened to this when it first came out! It’s devastatingly good! From the killer production to the MC work! This is nothing short of incredible! Check it out below!
Shoutout to RDRB for the Artwork!
https://open.spotify.com/album/73gK1pdlYJaX8XVg9feXKT?si=YP3kQiaqQneAP1AkACoyJQ
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