(Bangkok Dangerous 1)

In honour of the most recent comeback release by the legendary duo, I wanted to drop a surprise review for the occasion! And I figured why not go a different route and talk about the first in a different but equally important series to the ‘Gucci Ghost’ volumes and talk about the first entry into the 

BANGKOK SERIES 

This is the debut volume of the iconic ‘Bangkok’ series by MC, Icon, and notorious MC and Umbrella Collective General Mickey Diamond! In this project, accompanied by production from

-Diamond Dallas

-Quis Star

-Snotty

-Hobgoblin

-Influence

-Cise Greeny

-Body Bag Ben

-Mallori Knox

-Digitale, and features the MC’s -PostmanL and -King Arthur 

Now, this album (compared to the Gucci Ghost volumes) is that it feels a lot more surreal and drawn out in the production. There are a lot of tracks that have a slower pace, where the instrumentation can be felt and soaked into as opposed to those usual fast-paced and heavy beats to give you a quick buzz of adrenaline!

The fact that there are so many different names on production provides an interesting and diverse score of depth and variety in the influences. For example, we have tracks like -Northern Lights, which has an 80’s movie soundtrack feel to it! Like the music you’d expect to hear during a montage scene on Lethal Weapon or Bloodsport! 

You’ve got those funky piano keys, these light jazz-style drum beats, and some form of plucked string that comes in and out in an infrequent manner to give the song an extra level of depth!

There’s the track -Tiger Uppercut, which sounds like what Kimbo Slice would use as his theme song in his street fighting days! An absolutely brutal boom-bap track that’s equal parts minimal and explosive!

You’ve got these vocal film snippets that run as adlibs through the track that give the listener a quick pump of energy!

As they run through, you have these mesmerising, fast-paced piano keys in a repetitive loop and some of the heaviest drums you’ve ever heard! There’s also some ambient street noise in the background ever so subtly that adds layers of atmosphere to the song!

Even if we look at the track – Polo Jung, which sounds like a loop song you’d hear in one of those front massage parlours that is actually a criminal racket in the back like you see in the movies! This song has an Asian-sounding vocal loop that’s combined with sharp bass strings and some extremely subtle what sounds like acoustic guitar strings!

This track is interesting because there’s so much going on in the background that gives the song a hint of mystery and intrigue! One of the more ambient-style songs on the record!

With the amount of names on the production, some could expect either a messy or unfocused production, but that’s not the case! Instead, what you have is a collection of original standout instrumentals that all add substance and purpose to the record and most importantly to the chemistry with the man himself.

MICKEY DIAMOND

I can’t believe this album is five years (almost six) old by now. You wouldn’t think Mickey aged a single day. In comparison, he released the first Gucci Ghost in 2022, and this was how he rapped two years prior? Insane.

As expected, on this record, Mickey provides his legendary vocal performance with his deep-toned octaves, his sharp one-liners/puns, and his distinct eye for detailed bars and verses that level a vivid image in the listeners’ brains.

His flow is second to none; never been a man to ever fault on the mic. He spends the total of the 29

minutes spitting hot bar after hot bar, street poetry mixed with verbal slaughtering, and some of the cleanest word enunciations you’ll hear out of any artist, period!

Everything he says is clear and understandable, no mumbling, fast raps for no reason, over-the-top performances, just pure MC rapping, and he’s the best at it.

He oozes confidence and well earned bravado when he spits on the mic, he knew he was the man since day 1 and every day since he’s just telling the culture and the world ‘I told you so’ as many times as it takes to get it understood!

No matter if you heard it once or a thousand times over, Mickey’s mastery of the mic. His sharp wit and dominant presence whether alone or as a feature is always something to be in awe of. He’s the kind of man who can sell PHYSICAL ONLY drops in minutes. 

Make a comeback feel like the second coming, easily rap alongside legends like Method Man and make it look easy. 

This album and it’s series may have been one of his early stepping stones to greatness but this record just proves just like every other after that he was, is and always will be 

THE MAN TO BEAT 

https://open.spotify.com/album/6EuuagGBsUpXFsbKIv56jN?si=pFfCM1FNRZqUr2GxuwS5Mg