This has been a while coming! I was aware of this album as soon as it dropped, but with a hectic schedule, I didn’t have the freedom to cover it immediately, but now with a clear head, I can finally turn my attention to what is bound to be one of the most impressive drops of the month! Let’s talk about it!
This is the brand-new record by MC OGBenGrimm and consists of production by Knuckle Dragguz members such as
– P Ro
– Tali Rodriguez
– Crack Sizzlack
– Cloak X Dagger
– Mathias
– Ugly Jon
And features the likes of
– James Mitchell
– G Fam Black
– Hazerd
– Veronique
– Tali Rodriguez
– P Ro
With this insane roster behind him, we see OGBen flexing his connections and ability on the mic as he prepares to end the year on the highest note possible!
If we’re talking about the man himself, he has showcased his impressiveness over various features and collaboration records as a man who is steady, in control, and old school in his rhyme schemes and delivery! BUT on this album, it feels like he’s trying to go for blood and creating his magnum opus, with all his verses feeling like a whole new tier compared to his previous drops over the year!
He sounds more methodical and in-depth than he ever has! His lyricism feels heavier, sharper, and more dangerous. You can hear it in his flow, his next-level fluency, his crisp pronunciations, and the amount of swag he’s adding into every word that he spits! He’s turned himself into a whole new beast, one that is ruthless in nature yet super smooth on the delivery!
His lyrics have substance; they are spit for a meaning, not just throwaway random bars for the sake of it! He understands the importance of REAL bars, and you can hear it on this album more than the others!
Another thing I noticed in spades across this album is how immaculate the chemistry was! Obviously, these men are his brothers; he naturally would have ties with them, but for some reason, this one feels more magical and organic than the rest! It’s been a minute since I’ve heard such synchronous bars back-to-back! I felt myself getting goosebumps at the feature tracks due to how well they meshed together, absolutely beautiful!
Whenever you have the quality of the ‘Knuckle Dragguz’, you know you’re bound for a banger, and that’s exactly what the production is on this album! Every track is equally as strong as the one before and after, and it runs as a fluent score of epic proportions that delivers a theatrically raw demonstration of the best the underground has to offer!
For example, we have tracks like ‘BadaBOOM’ in which we hear one of the most gritty, muddy, heavy-handed tracks of the whole album! You’ve got those looped jazz horns, those hypnotic drums, as well as those second-layered horns that give off a more free-lance feel to it!
This is definitely the track that made me mean-mug the world for a straight 2 minutes and 30 seconds! Incredible second track!
We have tracks like ‘Gutter Knock’ which has this haunting vibe to it! We have a track with those swaying piano keys, combined with those mesmerising drum beats, and as the track progresses, we have a case of high-pitched violin strings that give this track that cinematic feel to it!
This is one of the more minimal tracks off the record but one that is equally hard-hitting!
Even if we look at the track ‘Scotch X Soda’ which has one of the more melodic vibes to it with the use of those pitch-edited choir-style vocals on loop with these elegant piano keys as well as bass string running through the record topped up with some delightful drums!
I found myself mesmerised by the vocal harmonies as they added a distinct and memorable flavour to the track!
All in all, from the iconic features and production to the iconic verses of OG himself! This is a full star-studded record you can’t afford to sleep on! Go check it out now!
https://open.spotify.com/album/5uhzIB6VzmiBVrdUY3KYG4?si=9IIMyhsnQIOi7fBoWAWlwA
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