Released: 9th December 2016
Genre: Hip Hop
Fav Tracks: Resurrection, They Want, Tape Beat Ft. Lil Wayne, Turkoise, Final Hour, DYSLM
Least Fav Tracks: Dreaminofthinkin
Review: 'Hodgy Beats' is a rapper who is part of the collective 'Odd Future'. Odd Future have only really spawned three worthwhile artists: Tyler The Creator, 'Earl Sweatshirt' and Hodgy Beats. This is his debut album which was released under the 'Odd Future' label.
The first track 'Nitro' which is an anagram of Intro, is a phone call in which the woman in the call explains how it feels to die rich. 'Kundalini' is a track about Hodgy being tested in life by the devil and about him "cutting demons off like an exorcism". The track has some nice lyrics from Hodgy and 'Solomon Faye' but the production feels wonky and silly. The track 'Barbell' has some nice lyrics with soulful production. The lyrics talk about how people shouldn't try and step up to his lyrical quality if they aren't being true. This track is the first single released for the album. 'Resurrection' is a song where Hodgy talks to the lord about his life. The song has an amazing instrumental with some introspective lyrics. 'They Want' has some really nice production and some great lyrics about how people want him to fail. The story told in this song is really interesting. However this song has some weird edits and 'censors' (I use the term censors loosely) over words that aren't even swear words. Such as "mirrors", "scars", and "boss". This was weird especially since there are swear words in this song that aren't censored. 'Final Hour' has some energetic lyrics from Hodgy and 'Busta Rhymes' who really gives pure energy to the track.
I'm starting to notice that the random censoring seems to be a running theme throughout this album. I don't know why but it is. 'Glory' has a boring instrumental and some forgettable lyrics. The censoring in this song is specifically terrible as there's so much of it. 'Laguna' has some nice lyrics and spacey production but the way it's mixed makes it sound messy and unorganised. His vocals on the chorus are just lazily placed on top of each other. 'Turkoise' with fellow Odd Future member 'Domo Genesis' is a nice love song with some nice lyrics and amazing flows. The production for this song is nice and laid back. 'Tape Beat' has some really nice jazzy production from 'BADBADNOTGOOD'. Hodgy has a nice flow on this track and 'Lil Wayne' (who hasn't exactly been flawless in the past few years) delivers some actually enjoyable lyrics. 'Dreaminofthinkin' has some okay lyrics but they're ruined by the abismol production on this track. I honestly like the sample the producer chose, but it's mixed into the beat in a way that makes it jarring to listen to. This was honestly a very confusing choice for Hodgy to leave this in the album. 'The Now' has okay production but thinks time the lyrics are mixed in a really weird and confusing way. I have no idea why this is being done. The song also ends suddenly. 'DYSLM' (Do You Still Love Me) is a hilarious track about Hodgy’s ex-girlfriend & baby’s mother who has moved on and found someone else, but Hodgy is still attached. The track tells the funny conversation he had between him and his ex's new boyfriend.
This album's religious discussion might confuse the listener if they know about Hodgy's past of atheism with 'Mellowhype' and 'Odd Future'. The production also plays a large role in this album as it has a large variety of different producers. I honestly enjoy Hodgy's constant flipping through many different types of rappers. From political, to religious, to energetic etc. If Hodgy removed the random censors and kept the production going towards one general sound, I think this album would be amazing but for now this album is just enjoyable.
Rating 7/10
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