Let me ask you a question. What is the definition of art? I have a feeling that I could ask 50 different people that question and get 50 different responses. That’s because the beauty of art is that it’s subjective. What I find beautiful, the next man could find ugly.
It’s in this versatility that I most respect the efforts of Estee Nack. He’s a man and artist who has spent his whole career going against the grain, paving his own lanes and having the same mentality the whole way through ‘art’ and with that being the word of the day, I want to introduce you to this brand-new album that, regardless of whether you’re a fan or not, is sure to get the world talking.
This is the new album by MC Estee Nack and producer Cookin Soul, who I covered back with his -The Michelin Man record alongside ANKHLE, and now he’s back with yet another powerhouse underground figure in Estee! This duo comes packed with the likes of
-Yung Beef
-Lil Supa
-Planet Asia, and with just these three names, this partnership seeks to control the world as Al-Andalus conquered the Iberian Peninsula!
What will forever impress me about Estee is his determination and forever-growing versatility in this game. He’s never heard a sound he couldn’t utilise. Never a man to make excuses, only results, and that’s why over his extensive career, you’ve heard so many different sides of him rapping on every sound and genre you could think of.
On this album, he’s showcasing that adaptation once again, sounding as smooth as he’s ever had.
He’s been in his element for years now, so for him, this is just another day at work. He’s the king of this shit with an unrivalled ‘splash’ performance style that’s combined with cold and calculating rhythm and a bi lingual delivery that I haven’t heard anyone else master the way he has. It’s beyond second nature to him; it’s just part of his tongue at this point. The way he can switch between the two so seemingly is always a trip to hear!
On this album, we hear him on a tad more methodically paced spitting. To me, this approach feels more like Estee asking the audience to pay attention and absorb every single word that he spits, as if each bar is the equivalent of a bar of gold!
His sessions on this album have a sweet balance between powerful and abrasive. A fusion of braggadocio street talk and thought-provoking manifestations that literally define the title – Machine Gun Preacher, the kind of man who can make you mean-mug and have a life-changing impact in the exact same sentence! That’s the level of depth and essence he brings into this penmanship.
I don’t think it’s even fair to call him a ‘rapper’ anymore; he’s more of a rhyming street prophet who takes his message across multiple platforms and influences to further evolve his career and his reach to his followers!
I also have to credit the three features on here. It was compelling to hear both – Yung Beef and – Lil Supa to rap in their own language. Especially paired with Estee, it feels a lot more heartfelt and passionate! The only English feature was Planet, who knocked it out of the park as he always does on the finale track!
As we dive deeper into the sounds of Cookin Soul, we analyse a man who over the span of just under a decade has given the culture a wide array of sound profiles and atmospheres to travel through. He’s a man similar to Estee in the fact that he never follows trends or copies anyone else! Instead, he follows his own journey in his creations, which has led him to this moment, and I tell you he’s never sounded better; I mean it!
The entirety of the 33 minutes is a straight song journey into the mind of Soul. This might sound like a reach, but with certain albums, I can sense different things, and for this one, I hear the living spiritual essence of Cookin seeping into this score. It’s not just a collection of songs; it’s 11 pieces of his mana embedded into the instrumentals themselves to create this stunning masterpiece of tracks we have on this record.
It’s why Estee can manoeuvre so swiftly and effectively around these beats. Why when played continuously front to back it literally sounds alive, as if your hearing the audio equivalent of a man’s passion, experience and conviction all rolled into one that’s what this sounds like to me!
For me, it’s hard to choose a favourite track because I don’t see this album as singles but as I said a score that’s purpose is to compliment the ones before and after in a binding vow. Not to say the individual songs wouldn’t be bangers solo but more to say I recommend leaving them as intended kept with the others to listen to the album in it’s entirety!
So, is this even a question? Yes this album is definitely worth checking out. Both men go well above and beyond in their respective roles and the features are stellar. Click the link below and feel the power!
https://open.spotify.com/album/6UEFlwits6mgpi8FWhb9Ah?si=7_XriFvlSY2g7ebWXJMO6Q
The Serpent Tongue Reviews 