A surprise drop. This man I’ve always felt has maintained as one of the dopest underrated MC’s in the landscape right now. With some of the illest feature verses and projects alike, he’s always stayed consistent and the one to look out for. Now with this brand new offering, he’s looking to further push the narrative of ‘one of the dopest alive’ and I don’t see any reason to doubt it!
This is the brand new full-length studio album by powerhouse MC Shottie & Producer Wahr Season, and together they drop a collection of 14 tracks that features the likes of
– Swab
– MONEY MOGLY
– Asun Eastwood
– PRO THE ARTIST
– Salazar El Tabaquero
– Maze Overlay
This is truly a who’s who of icons to appear on this tape, and each one brings their best feet forward!
If we start with the production side of things, this man Wahr creates a truly cinematic score that highlights Shottie’s characteristics, his cadence, and his abilities. This is a tailor-made soundtrack of in-depth atmospheric, rich instrumentation as well as dope, infectious beat progressions that help this album walk the fine line between an incredible well-balanced/fluent listening experience and the type of record you could pick out songs one by one and still be bangers!
Certain songs stand out to me, such as the song – Gold Metal Heat. This is one of those ambient infusions that I couldn’t resist. It’s got these eerie wind sounds in the background, these haunting piano chords on a loop, as well as some methodical drums that all come together into this truly introspective yet disturbing instrumental that would only make sense if you had killers such as Shottie & MONEY going off on it!
The song – Bob Kaiser was also a standout to me; it has this 80’s flavour to it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. You’ve got these funky jazz-style plucked keys and subtle jazz horns in the background, as well as some groovy drum beats and lighter separate keys in the background.
I also loved the off-the-cuff style vocal performances for the chorus! This whole track gave me goosebumps in the best way possible; it felt so rare in execution and was definitely one that was memorable for me!
Hell, even the second track in -Aqua Blue Cameo had such a grand feel to it! It had a more methodically paced intro that makes you feel and soak into each instrument until it switches up on you and goes into a more boom-bap influenced structure with those heavy, raw, in-your-face drums, plucked keys, bass strings, and these wavy/echoing chord progressions that appear and re appear throughout the track that gave an interesting texture to the song!
So many fantastic songs on this album, but those are the ones that stood out to me most!
As far as Shottie goes, this man wouldn’t know how to miss if he was blindfolded at the opposite end of the court after being spun around! He would find a way to hit a clean three points into the net regardless.
This man has your favourite MC’s focused on what he’s doing; he’s got one of the most consistent and unique presences about him as well as having the perfect portfolio of skills.
-Charisma: his man on every verse he spits (for his own or otherwise) has stood out as the feature of the night because of the aura and energy he brings! His passion, his specific way of pronouncing words, his enunciations, his one-of-a-kind studio behaviour makes him someone recognisable after just a few bars in!
-Lyricism: whether he’s in storytelling mood, street poetry, or just brash, flexing bars, he’s mastered all the lanes. He finds a way to captivate the audience with his ridiculous rhythm, his smooth and crisp flow, as well as his poisonous approach to his bars that seeps into the instrumentals until he takes it over!
Across this tape specifically, it feels like I’m transported into every single fabric of his lines from the personal ones to the situations he’s setting up!
-Chemistry: Although you see so many albums these days that flood their records with a party of features that don’t have much substance or appeal besides having features for features sake. But Shottie has the ability to collaborate and mesh with absolutely anyone who he shares a song with and no more is that true then on here!
Considering the verbal monsters he has with him, a lesser man can be assumed to fail or get overwhelmed but not Shottie, he not only established phenomenal synchronicity with the men but works with them to further up the energy and enjoyability of the record as a whole!
Once again, Shottie proves to me why he’s a kingpin in the underground and has been for years, I’ve never heard a bad verse from him yet and I didn’t start now. From the larger than life production to the features at hand. This one is one for the record books!
https://open.spotify.com/album/3A1Ugmsji5KPBQzb0R4Q8h?si=RGSAu4wgQC2yda4eEzApfA
The Serpent Tongue Reviews 