In this week’s episode, we discuss the official trailer for “Deadpool & Wolverine”, the removal of Drake’s tacky Kendrick Lamar diss “Taylor-Made Freestyle” from streaming platforms, the new C.W. Franz album “C.W. Franz IX”, Dev Patel’s visceral directorial debut “Monkey Man”, the Luca Guadagnino romantic drama “Challengers”, the Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off miniseries “Knuckles” and the epic FX miniseries “Shōgun”.
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Though I came in a year too late to the beginning of C.W. Franz’ self-titled album series (forgive me, my Fiverr gig didn’t exist back then), my official introduction to Franz’s music came in the form of 2020’s “C.W. Franz II”, an instrumental evocation of memories related to the American Midwest. From there, I’ve covered every “C.W. Franz” installment up to this point, experiencing and pretty much documenting the unique concepts, various emotions and degrees of musical experimentation along the way.
“C.W. Franz III” and “C.W. Franz VI” are currently my top two favorites, the former being an elegy for the traditional American restaurant whose release during the second year of the pandemic made the experience of listening to it all the more heartbreaking, and the latter being a bleak, epic, existential journey where time and space were ripped apart in an attempt to find meaning within the banality of modern-day life. Back when I reviewed “VI” and interviewed C.W. himself on my podcast, I assumed there was nowhere else for this series to go. And then “C.W. Franz VII” and “VIII: Adrift and Hoping” dropped, bringing things literally back down to Earth. Acting as two sides of the same coin – day and night, if you will, given their contrasting album covers – “VII” and “VIII” saw C.W. moving optimistically forward in his life through a new relationship, leaving behind a dark path of broken hearts and unforgivable mistakes.
Now we have “C.W. Franz IX”, the ninth chapter of this ongoing series, once again boasting an eclectic cast of guest performers and a striking album cover designed by KM Designs. And in order to describe the experience I had with this record prior to writing this review, I have to talk about that cover.
With the first few listens I gave the album, my mind kept zeroing in on two things: the production and that cover. Bear in mind that I was simply basking in the sound and tuning into the vibe of the record, without thinking too much about what was going on thematically and lyrically. But I felt there was something missing, or at least something that didn’t grab me during those first few listens. I went back to that cover and then I noticed something I didn’t before: two birds, each perched on a tree on opposite sides of the forest portrait serving as the album art. And THAT was when the album finally clicked for me!
Playing almost like a ‘threequel’ to “VII” and “VIII”, “C.W. Franz IX” is a breakup record, which is admittedly nothing new in C.W.’s expansive discography. And yet with the more listens I gave it after that ‘mind-blowing’ reveal of the birds in the album art, I couldn’t help but see it as a turning point in C.W.’s musical career, where he takes all of the stylistic practices and thematic fascinations that he’d been honing and pondering on for the past five years and combining them into a stunningly cohesive whole!
It begins with the first of two two-parters (technically, there’s three – but more on that later) “Flying Over Home (Thinking of You) / Permanent Affection”. The first half opens with an archival recording of the “Steamboat Bill” refrain made famous through the iconic Disney cartoon “Steamboat Willie”. Not only does that sample reflect C.W.’s deep interest in American history and the reverberations of its past upon modern society (“C.W. Franz II”, “C.W. Franz V” and “American Republic in Crisis” come to mind), but it sets up the album’s main symbol: a bird. Now you’re probably asking yourself: “But isn’t it an animated mouse who does the whistling?” My response to that is: “Isn’t that cartoon now accessible through the public domain?” On a side note, it’s funny how this album takes us off the yacht from the album cover of “VIII” and onto a metaphorical steamboat in a matter of seconds.
Anyway, “Flying Over Home (Thinking of You)” kick-starts with some gentle strumming courtesy of C.W.’s beloved Texaco Oil Can-o-Caster, which evolves into a warm, pleasant duet with guest artist Michael Wookey on Marxophone. Going back to the album cover, this moment feels like the musical backdrop to a cinematic establishing shot involving the forest from the album art. Roughly around the 2:45 mark, C.W. starts singing, and as short of a verse he gives in this first half, it packs a lot of emotional punch. The album’s premise is laid out: three days have passed, and his romantic partner has left the “temporary nest” with no indication of returning. C.W. mentions “Steamboat Willie” in the third bar, which I interpreted as him expressing how he feels the complete opposite of how carefree Mickey Mouse was in that cartoon.
In the “Permanent Affection” half of the track, we get another fantastic duet between C.W. and Michael, with some Ebow use from the latter in the background. C.W. returns to the bird metaphors, singing about how the “audacious starling and chickadee flies over home to the nest where they feel they should be”. He ends the verse with a tear-inducing farewell of sorts to his former partner, effectively setting up the record’s poignant tone.
The following track “No Worries” opens with a soft duet between C.W. and classical guitarist Naythen Wilson. C.W.’s undulating pace creates this weird sense of dread as if he fears the reminiscence he’s about to embark on in this track will hurt him. And yet he receives some much-needed support from Naythen, alongside guest pianist Neemias Teixiera on the Yamaha P-95. All three instrumentals combine into a stirring soundscape which takes up the rest of the song. During that section, C.W. delivers a short and genuinely heartwarming recollection of specific memories, evoking the mental retreats into “happier times” prevalent on “C.W. Franz III” and 2023’s “American Byways” featuring The Big Bluestems. And in those happy, burden-free moments of “No Worries”, C.W. had “nowhere somewhere else to be” (God, I LOVE that line) and “didn’t worry enough then” of his own limitations, imperfections and, in an emotionally captivating moment, his “own self”.
Up next is the second two-part track “Got Troubles/ Got Mine”, whose first part begins with what sounds like a bluegrass-like melody made up of C.W.’s vibrant strumming and The Big Bluestems’ own Rodnell Matos’ playful plucking of the mandolin, with some six-string fretless electric bass support from guest bassist Hexifice. Another memory, just as vague as the ones on “No Worries”, is brought up in song, but it’s clear that C.W.’s singing about his ex. Here, he recalls a moment where he was deathly afraid of something and she was there at that time to support him.
Afterwards, C.W’s Can-o-Caster playing slows down to a crawl, then picks back up to signify the start of the track’s second half (“Got Mine”). The bluegrass-like melody restarts, this time in a slightly different pitch, then slows down after a while for C.W. to finish his story. A callback to one of the main themes of “C.W. Franz VII”, C.W. reminds himself of how he emotionally mistreated his former partner. Perhaps out of fear of his own future, he proceeded to shut her out of his life, ultimately resulting in their separation. And in the track’s final moments, he summarizes that outcome in both a regretful and indifferent manner by saying “some things don’t last”.
Similar to the sonic experimentation on “C.W. Franz II” and “C.W. Franz V”, C.W. incorporates some non-American instruments into “IX” via the following track “Shaker Symmetry”. Thanks to Maryan Banan on oud and longtime collaborator Reinaldo Ocando on darbuka, finger cymbals and vibraslap, percussion is FINALLY added to the album’s instrumental palette. Throughout this track, we’re treated to this exotic and slightly sensual mix of Can-o-Caster, darbuka, finger cymbals, vibraslap, oud and Hexifice’s electric bass guitar. Seemingly intoxicated by the vibe of the production, C.W. starts praising his former partner’s external and internal beauty. I especially LOVE how the oud makes its introduction in the final line of the first verse between “addressing” and “unjust policy”. In the second verse, he confesses that he still finds her perfect in his eyes, “encircled and flanked by other perfect ones”. The following lines add some depth to his perspective on their past relationship: “I give so much to you / That I don’t think enough for myself”. And similar to the opening lines of the track “Northern California Blues” off his recently-released “Solo Again” record, C.W. closes this song with this self-aware couplet (“It’s all the same tune, in a similar mode / It’s been that way as long as I can remember”).
We then get the two-part, two-track final act and album highlight “Auk and Chickadee” (i.e. the two birds on the cover. I Googled their names to make sure, by the way). Part 1 opens with two repeated notes from C.W.’s Can-o-Caster, amplified for a few seconds with a droning reverb before settling into a fully fleshed-out melody. In a moment of pure brilliance, a double bass from guest artist Bruno De La Rosa creeps into the mix, establishing the sweeping, epic feel this particular song will treat us to. After the 3:10 mark, C.W. delivers a SUPERBLY written first verse centered on mending a broken heart whilst “selling hearts” on Valentine’s Day that is nothing short of heartrending. Ajayi Desai, who appeared on “C.W. Franz V”, adds some tabla to the second verse, right where C.W. mentions how she found that his words had beauty. And then in a truly powerful moment, C.W. looks inward and declares that he’ll open his heart out to her so she can see what she knows: “heavenly moments”. Instead of bottling them up, he’ll express these moments to her through song. And from that revelation, C.W.’s strumming increases, building into a heavenly crescendo alongside the tabla and double bass. And then out of nowhere, guest performer Jose David shows up on timpani to guide the song into this wondrous climax! This bird is going to sing his heart out, with the hope that his former mate flies towards his nest at just the right time to hear him.
And just when your tear ducts have had enough, Part 2 begins, and I love how it just STARTS with no buildup or hesitation. Energized by the exuberance of Part 1, C.W. and Hexifice perform this joyous duet, with some support from the midpoint onward by Rodnell Matos who delivers a GORGEOUS solo via his mandolin. C.W. proceeds with a final tribute to his ex (revealed at this point to have auburn-colored hair), appreciating the memories they’ll continue to hold close to their hearts. And on the ambiguous closing line (“The rest is for ourselves to claim”), driven by the soothing sounds of Reinaldo Ocando’s marimba (Is this meant to represent the xylophone mentioned in that “Steamboat Willie” line on “Flying Over Home (Thinking of You)”?), we’re left with the hope that these two birds will continue to be a part of each other’s lives, regardless of the nest they each call home. And speaking of birds, the album’s outro involves a field recording – reminiscent of the ones used in “C.W. Franz IV” – of nature sounds presumably from a forest similar to the abovementioned album art.
On the Bandcamp liner notes, C.W. states that this album was “recorded in three days and then meticulously thought about for three months”. Initially, he was going to release it with just his voice and improvised Can-O-Caster compositions, but something told him to sit with it for a while. And I can safely say that it was a great thing he did, because the end result is arguably the BEST entry in the “C.W. Franz” series and, dare I say it, his BEST ALBUM thus far!
Also according to the liner notes, “C.W. Franz IX” is described as a “labor of love” – and it ABSOLUTELY shows! From the artwork and the lyrics to the mood and sound of each song, EVERYTHING feels thoughtful and emotionally-driven! But the two standout aspects of this album are its themes and overall musical execution. Drawing from his collaborations with other artists on “American Byways”, his “Orange Diamond” and “Wells House” jam sessions and some of his previous “C.W. Franz” records, C.W. managed to get the best out of his long-distance musical collaborators. You can tell they deeply UNDERSTOOD the album’s themes of heartbreak, forgiveness and moving forward and as a result, they projected that understanding into every note they played. And I will make the argument that even if you’ve never listened to a C.W. Franz album before, self-titled or otherwise, the themes are so relatable and the music is so refined and well-conducted, you can easily get into the vibe of this record.
I guess for me, great things really do come in threes – or in multiples of three – because now “C.W. Franz IX” stands tall as my top favorite in this self-titled series, with “VI” and “III” in the second and third spots respectively! And like “VI”, I REALLY don’t know how or if it’s possible for C.W. to top what he did on this latest installment! I guess we’ll see when “X” is released, and if it’s one thing we’ve learned from a successful movie franchise with nine entries (see “The Fast and the Furious” – and in the case of this point being made, “Hobbs & Shaw” doesn’t count), there will inevitably be a Part 10. But for now, “C.W. Franz IX” is one of this year’s best albums and it gets my highest recommendation!
OVERALL RATING: 10 out of 10
Now available on Bandcamp and Spotify
For our special “double feature” celebration of hip hop producer extraordinaire Madlib’s revered collaborative albums, Matthew and special guest Micwise do track-by-track reviews of the Madvillain (Madlib & MF DOOM) record “Madvillainy” and the MadGibbs (Madlib & Freddie Gibbs) record “Piñata”.
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Here’s our season three finale where we, alongside special guests Tracy Hutchings and CC Lilford, discuss the best and worst films, best and worst TV shows, top film discoveries, best internet video essays and best albums we saw and heard in 2023!
Thank you once again for the listens, likes, loves, shares and comments, and here’s to another year of great video essays, music, movies and TV!
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Now you’re probably watching the title of this EP and name of this group and asking yourself – to quote the recently-completed animated TV series “Archer” – “WHAT THE SHIT?!” But yes folks, this is an actual musical recording from an actual music group. Dookie Bros consists of Canadian rappers Franchise and Shy The Beatyoda, the latter of whom produced this record.
Prior to my deep-dive into the Dookie Bros discography, which consists of their debut album “When the Shit Hits the Fan”, maxi-single “The Slapper” featuring Keith Murray and EPs “Manure Music Vols. 1 & 2”, I wasn’t familiar with Franchise at all. But I did know of Shy’s work, thanks to his collaborative record with North Carolina singer/rapper E Smitty (as the Soul Powers) called “The Beginning Of” which was MY top favorite album of 2021. And I also took note of how undeniable his chemistry is with other artists, whether it’s Toronto rapper LeZeppo on the Guillotine Shark debut “Merky Waters” or E Smitty, LeZeppo and a handful of other rappers on the 2022 record “Shy The Beatyoda Presents: Rebel Embassy”.
On paper, “Merry Shitmas” is pretty self-explanatory: a rap duo doing a Christmas rap album which, in the world of hip hop, is nothing new. I’d make the argument that the reason why there aren’t any memorable examples of a major label rap album release dedicated to Christmas is the over-reliance on traditional and generic tropes associated with the holiday for creative inspiration. Yes, there’s a number of noteworthy hip hop singles about Christmas, but not an album unfortunately. There are, however, independent releases like Cookin Soul’s “XMAS” mash-up mixtapes and quite recently, Amerigo Gazaway’s “Another Christmas Album” and Funky DL’s “A Vintage Soulful Boom Bap Christmas”, all of which are solid projects in their own right! But occasionally, you’d get an ‘experiment’ like “Jim Jones Presents: 12 Days of Xmas” where…..I’ll put it this way….the last track off “Manure Music Vol. 2” pretty much sums up the way I felt when I listened to that record last year!
So as you can tell, YES, I know my shit when it comes to “Christmas rap”. And that’s why I can safely say that “Merry Shitmas” is one of, if not the best, Christmas rap projects I’ve ever heard! And no, I’m not saying this because I’m obligated to or whatever. It’s a really, REALLY solid record! If you’re not familiar with Dookie Bros’ output over the past couple years, you should know going into this record that their rap styles hearken back to the good ol’ days of mid 90s to early 2000s hardcore hip hop, with crass, over-the-top and downright hilarious bars that remind me so much of what Method Man and Redman were doing when they linked up on a record!
And you get that on the opening / title track “Merry Shitmas”, with these raunchy and wickedly clever rhymes from Franchise and Shy and a witty reworking of the “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” hymn on the hook over a delightful mix of head-nodding boom-bap drums and Christmas carol-based melodies. The production on this record is consistently top-notch, in the sense that it doesn’t simply borrow all-too familiar bits of instrumentation or vocal samples and loop them in a lazy, half-assed attempt to evoke nostalgia. There’s genuine effort put into crafting memorable boom bap beats here, to the point that you can take out the Yuletide samples and they still sound great!
Shy’s sample choices are on-point on this record, and like on “The Beginning Of”, you really get the sense of his DJ Premier-like, encyclopedic knowledge when it comes to recorded vocals. Take the following track “Do You Hear what I Hear” where, over a moody, string-assisted instrumental, he incorporates a vocal sample from a rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, a popular De La Soul sample and, much to my surprise, an ONYX sample! And somehow, the latter sample FITS within in the context of the song which, also to my surprise, is a heartfelt expression from both Shy and Franchise of the mood-changing and life-altering power of their music and lyrics.
On the subject of lyrics, I really appreciated the diverse subject matter Dookie Bros brought to the table….or should I say, toilet (HA!)… on “Merry Shitmas”! Like their previous records, a recurring theme on this EP is their underdog status. They’re better than the average rapper and producer, and yet they feel like they’re being shitted on by them, so obviously their best course of action is to throw that shit back at them!
Even on the single “Charlie Brown”, they draw inspiration from one of my go-to Christmas TV specials “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to inform their haters of how incredibly dope they are on the mic and behind the boards. With a smartly selected sample from Vince Guaraldi’s TIMELESS piano-driven score from that special, Franchise and Shy craft this fun and delightfully jazzy dance song, whilst telling the audience that this is the DOPEST rap song centered on Charlie Brown and Christmas….EVER!
Like “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, Dookie Bros also touch on the disappointment one feels around the holiday season, particularly when you’re young and constantly told of all the wonder and magic to look forward to. On “Holy Shit”, which features the EP’s catchiest and FUNNIEST hook, Shy and Franchise each regale the listener with a story about that significant moment in their childhood when they realized that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.
In both a cynical and non-cynical way, you can understand why Franchise and Shy approach the holiday season – and the album as a whole – the way they do. There’s a sly irony to “Merry Shitmas” as it shows Christmas from the perspective of two rappers who’re clearly annoyed by the regurgitated topics and themes of many Christmas songs and their many, MANY cover versions.
So it’s only right that they take one of the most beloved and meme-worthy Christmas songs of all time – Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” – and rework it into a sex jam WITH THE SAME TITLE and a modified version of the now-iconic chorus! The dreamy, doo-wop-inspired beat is an absolute mood-setter and lyrically, Franchise delivers these smooth, sensual bars to his sexual partner, while Shy does some salacious sexcapade storytelling akin to his song “Family Matters” off the “When The Shit Hits the Fan” album.
But it’s not all shit-talking and freaky shit on “Merry Shitmas”. There’s the penultimate track “There’s Always Tomorrow” which, the more I think about it, is my top favorite song on this EP! The production is so lavish and lovely, driven by a heartwarming vocal sample from the classic Christmas TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Franchise and Shy are at their most sincere and thoughtful as they assure the listener not to be overwhelmed and stressed out over the time allotted to us to achieve our goals.
Failures will occur and we won’t achieve everything we work towards in a short space of time, but we should learn to reassess, recharge and continue moving forward. The beauty of this song is how it relates to our everyday lives and not a specific holiday or season. And even with its Christmas-based instrumentation, the song itself is so relatable and meaningful, you can literally listen to it any time of the year, especially when you find yourself feeling depressed, disappointed and stuck in some stage in your life.
Dookie Bros keep their hearts on their sleeves on the final track “Misfits” which, if you’re familiar with the soundtrack to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, you’ll truly admire the placement of this track after “There’s Always Tomorrow”. Set to a rousing, big-band and boom-bap beat driven by a sample from the Lou Rawls song “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas”, Shy and Franchise re-affirm their misfit statuses, staying true to their styles and sounds without conforming to current, flash-in-the-pan musical trends. Both emcees are appropriately bold and unapologetic on their verses and shared hook, but it’s Shy’s verse that steals the show, particularly in the way he defends his production style and the self-aware bar he uses to close the song.
As a whole, I absolutely enjoyed the near-22 minutes of “Merry Shitmas”! It features some of Dookie Bros’ best performances and Shy’s best production to date, and it delivers on the Christmas / anti-Christmas vibes I expected from both its title and album cover. And like the great Christmas and anti-Christmas movies of yesteryear, I can see myself revisiting “Merry Shitmas” on an annual basis. If you’re looking for a Christmas rap album to vibe to for the holidays, definitely seek this one out!
OVERALL RATING: 9 out of 10
Now available on all streaming platforms
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Ricardo cover the 2022 EP “Table Talk” from New Jersey rapper Heezy Hines, the newest album from Trinidadian rapper Micwise entitled “The Degree of Difficulty”, the first trailer for MCU’s “Echo” and what it might mean for Marvel Studios going forward, the respective first season and Season 2 premiere of Amazon Prime’s “Gen V” and “Invincible” and the forgettable “Five Nights At Freddy’s”.
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In this week’s episode, Matthew and Ricardo discuss the first trailer for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”, the “Tiny Toons” reboot series “Tiny Toons Looniversity”, the fourth season of “Harley Quinn”, the newest Nas & Hit-Boy album “Magic 3”, the new Heezy Hines album “Exit Wounds”, the horror film “Talk to Me” and the supernatural satire “El Conde”, in addition to making mention of this year’s Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, the recently-released Blackmagic iOS app and the passing of iconic filmmaker Horace Ove.
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In a documentarian-like tone, the narrator states the following: “Starting off small to growing up to producing the next generation. All living things have a life cycle. Each day just as important as the last”. But it’s the next fact, which may slip past listeners’ ears, that’s crucial to understanding this album: “Different groups of organisms all have different kinds of life cycles”. Simply put, while you may not have gone through what Nord1kone went through or accomplished what he did, those same three aspects of life – birth, growth and reproduction – are just a part of his life as they are ours. But as we know, there is a fourth and final aspect of life, but more on that later.
This narration, part of the intro track “The Business of Life”, lays the thematic groundwork for “Life Cycles”, the first collaboration between Bay Area rapper Nord1kone and the beatmaking duo of UK producer Mike Flips and Australian producer Seize. The groundwork itself was established earlier in Nord1kone’s life after learning of his wife’s pregnancy. Additionally, this album is the follow-up to Nord1kone’s collaborative record with DJ/ producer and fellow Outsiders Syndicate member LMT Break “Respect the Skills”, where their undeniable chemistry and dedication to keeping the flag of boom-bap raised resulted in one of my favorite records of 2022.
After “The Business of Life”, “Life Cycles” kicks off with “Lows and Highs”, a track I imagine will go over well at a live show thanks to its smooth, laid-back beat, lyrics centered on honing one’s craft and following your passions, and of course its engaging, crowd-moving hook. On the subject of hook, I do like how it’s framed as this daily metaphorical fight between the listeners and the external and internal forces blocking them from accomplishing their goals (“Keep your head down, G, but your eye to the sky / Knuckles up in-between the lows and highs”). Following that is the lead single “Better Days” which features this sunny, grooving-on-a-Sunday-afternoon-like beat that is easily one of this album’s best instrumentals. Though I couldn’t identify all the samples utilized on the hook, I did notice the blink-and-you-miss-it vocal from the CLASSIC rap song “Remember We” from Brooklyn rap group Da Bush Babees. With a great second verse from veteran rapper and regular collaborator El Da Sensei, Nord1kone dedicates his two verses to his gradual maturity as a man and rapper. And speaking of “Groovin’” (kids, ask your parents), the brief string section that appears during Nord1kone’s outro is GORGEOUS, adding an extra layer of warmth and nostalgia to the production.
We then get the title track which is, in my opinion, THE best song on this album! I LOVE the nocturnal, ethereal vibe of Seize and Mike Flips’ production, further heightened with a wisely-selected vocal sample of the late, great MF DOOM (from “The Finest”, one of my favorite songs off “Operation: Doomsday”) at the beginning and a brief, haunting bit of female vocalizing peppered throughout the track. Nord1kone taps into his past experiences and present situations to advise us that we must embrace the ups and downs of our life cycles as they’ll prepare us for the good and bad times that will inevitably occur. It’s interesting how he ends that track with the phrase “Sunrise and sunset” and on the first line of the first two verses (respectively) of the next track “Underdog Vibe”, he says “I stay up in-between the sunset, West” and “I close my eyes to the sunrise, East”. Over a similarly nocturnal but smoother and jazzier beat, we get what feels thematically like a continuation of “Lows and Highs”, with greater lyrical emphasis placed on the immense effort put into Nord1kone’s rhymes, fueled by his desire to prove his many doubters and detractors wrong.
After the instrumental interlude “Display a New Sound”, we get a boom-bap banger in the form of “Knock Knock”, NOT to be confused with the track of the same name from “Respect the Skills” (one of my favorite tracks off that record, by the way). In a strange way, this track feels like an aggressive remix to the ‘original’ LMT Break-produced version. Its menacing bassline, in particular, always reminds me of Cypress Hill’s “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That” every time I listen to this song. And while I dug the traditional, early-90s approach to the beat’s construction and energized performance by Nord1kone, I felt we could’ve gotten a second verse from either him or another rapper, instead of the extended intro, verse, hook and outro presented on this track.
The second half of “Life Cycles” truly showcases the record’s excellent track sequencing, as the rowdy sound of “Knock Knock” dissipates to an irresistibly wavy, horn-assisted instrumental courtesy of “Max with the Illest”. Nord1kone goes into “Respect the Skills” mode on this track, delivering a MASTERCLASS on how to flow over a boom-bap beat of such a high caliber without losing a step! The head-nodding vibe switches to that of subtle psychedelia on the following track “Throw Em Further” (the guitars and bongos, in particular, sound like they were lifted from some late-60s folk rock song). Even Nord1kone takes note of the ‘mood-inducing’ nature of Mike Flips and Seize’s beat, expressed through his opening line “All power to the Swishas, greens and Jim Beams that saved a wretch like me”. While the track itself is not about getting stimulated, it gives us a glimpse into Nord1kone’s current mind state, preferably the things he regularly ruminates on like the support from his wife and the rest of the Outsiders Syndicate and, mentioned for the first time on this album, the death of his brother. These emotional and mental facets continue to fuel him through his life and rap career.
Speaking of career, Nord1kone examines his current path towards rap immortality on the penultimate track “Path of the Poet”, yet another fantastic song on this album. Its jazzy, hazy production flows in your brain from start to end and the vocal chop serving as the song’s hook is guaranteed to stay with you long after the song ends. If “Throw Em Further” gave us a glimpse into the man Nord1kone is, this track gives us a glimpse into the artist he is, from his humble beginnings as a kid who rapped for fun to a man who takes the craft of rap seriously. The third verse showcases a significant change in Nord1kone at this point on the record. Now older, wiser and a father, he has a clearer idea of who he is as a rapper and a man. His rhymes are more thoughtful, he’s using his art to provide for his family and even his battle-rap approach to rhyming has changed to that of motivating his rivals to step their pen game up to help move the culture forward, as suggested by the following line: “Like help a homie up even after I knock him down”. In addition, he drops what just might be the perfect summary of his character growth on this album: “But the majority will never know the Nord1kone / And that’s alright because I write through day and night to overcome”.
Saving their most emotional song for last, Nord1kone, Seize, Mike Flips and sole guest Outsiders Syndicate emcee The I.M.F. close the album off with “Flow State”. Over the appropriately disenchanted drums and horns of Mike and Seize’s production, Nord1kone and The I.M.F. trade bars over a conversation turned therapy session, with the former expressing how overpowered he feels by the stresses of life, especially the difficult task of moving forward from his brother’s death. The most sincere characteristic of this track is The I.M.F’s role as the confidant in this scenario, continually and REALISTICALLY assuring him that things won’t get better overnight, but they will get better over time. The first half of the second verse, performed by The I.M.F. himself, is just as sincere as he reminisces on his childhood and how, even as a kid, he was aware of the rift between his parents’ marriage. Yes, it’s a cathartic and oftentimes uncomfortable moment on the album, but it’s a necessary one, as this is where the album shows that even with the knowledge that we will experience lows in our lives, we do need some sort of support through them.
The outro “All Over Again” brilliantly emphasizes how the world around us changes while we go through our individual life cycles. While the intro presented the album’s themes in a collage of fake radio and TV snippets (Points for the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”-esque one that appears before the narrator starts talking), this outro delivers its messages through online media content. The majority of this track involves what sounds like one of those animated YouTube videos with stock sound effects and an enthusiastic narrator re-iterating the ‘life cycle’ concept. And not only is this is the first non-song to touch on death (the fourth and final aspect of life), but it includes a fact that’s also crucial to understanding this album and yet will slip past some listeners’ ears: “Somewhere along the line, some of them have offspring…..or they just make copies of themselves before they pass on…..before they die”. That is a great reminder that even if you don’t become a parent, you can still leave behind something of value that’ll inspire the next generation, whether it be – in the case of the artists who made this record – a well-written and performed song or a well-produced beat. We then get this pitch-shifted vocal snippet where this person (most likely the narrator from the YouTube video) says “It’s the cycle of life. Things are born, they grow, reproduce and die. Then it starts all over again”. Obviously, it’s way more complex than that, but at its simplest, most basic form, it’s as perfect of a summary on what life is as any!
For an album centered on such a fascinating and meaningful subject, I admire how concise and compact of a package “Life Cycles” is. The track sequencing is outstanding across the board, thanks to the tonal ebbs and flows of Mike Flips and Seize’s instrumentals from song to song. But what impressed me the most about this record is how relatable and easily digestible it is. It doesn’t beat you over the head with its existential themes and messages, you don’t come out of it feeling overly depressed or burdened by the fleeting nature of life and if you’re part of the audience this album is catered to, you should leave this record with your neck feeling a bit sore from the constant head-nodding you’ll most likely be doing throughout its entire run! In short, this is Nord1kone’s most thoughtful and heartfelt project to date and easily one of his best records. It’s also a brilliant showcase of the beatmaking talents of Mike Flips and Seize and yet another great collaborative project between Nord1kone and other like-minded, boom-bap loving producers and emcees! An absolute must-listen!
OVERALL RATING: 8.5 out of 10
Streaming is available on all platforms and Vinyl can be ordered worldwide
In this episode, recorded a day after the 50th anniversary of hip hop, Matthew and Ricardo do a recap of the Hip Hop 50 Live music event held in Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, in addition to reviewing the second season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, the first few episodes of Apple TV’s “Strange Planet” and the Netflix docuseries “Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop” and celebrate the respective 50th and 30th anniversaries of the classic martial arts/action film “Enter the Dragon” and the superhero comedy “The Meteor Man”.
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In this week’s episode, Matthew and Ricardo discuss the first trailers for the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation of the beloved anime series “One Piece” and the first R-rated Sony/Marvel superhero film “Kraven the Hunter”, in addition to the Ari Aster-directed surrealist comedy-drama “Beau is Afraid”, the collaborative album from Trinidadian rapper Micwise and Trinidadian producer Rhook Beats entitled “Mad Scene”, the sixth season of the Netflix sci-fi/horror anthology series “Black Mirror”, the Netflix-released action flick “Extraction 2” and the highly-anticipated DCEU film “The Flash”.
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