Rating: NNNN
Saukrates’s latest EP makes you wish he’d give us a little more than guest spots on records we love by Maestro and Shad a little more often. (In 15 years, the Scarborough emcee only has two full-lengths under his belt.)
Opening track Kingdom Come has a golden-age hip-hop vibe, with mashed-up classical strings that somehow make it sound totally new. The title track finds the emcee playing both interviewer and interviewee. Three of the four songs are produced by Rich Kidd, the clear highlight being #FYEO’s chopped-up vocal samples and R&B hook that wouldn’t be out of place on a Boyz II Men album. Soxx’s delivery is flippantly Kanye-like on the track – “Sorry guy, she’s mine, I lied” – and it totally works. Final track The Big Bang is the most lyrically aggressive and, even though I could live without the references to the worst TV show ever, makes you feel like he can go in a littler harder. Where’s the rest of the album?
Top track: #FYEO
