ESGN Review

Released on his own imprint after a major label had signed him and then done nothing with him, this is a record made out of spite and a small budget. The rapping is astonishing throughout. Nobody in 2013 had a cleaner double time or a more convincing low register, and he can move from a conversational drawl to a full sprint inside one bar without the pocket ever slipping. The problem is everything underneath him.

The beats are generic street rap of the era, synth stabs and hollow drums, several of them interchangeable, and across seventeen tracks the sameness becomes the defining feature of the album. Freddie Soprano and Lay It Down are the ones that work. Eastside Moonwalker has a real groove to it. But there is no arc, no dynamic range and no reason for any given song to sit where it sits. It is a demo reel for a great rapper still waiting for a producer, and the wait was nearly over.