What other way could you start an album in todays environment other than by asking, “Got the Lysol wipes? Got the Lysol spray? Got Bleach? Toilet paper?” Following that by saying, “Its like the whole universe telling everyone to sit your ass down.” Passport Gift and Parks gives us a great sounding and a great sequenced album. As an engineer myself, there is nothing better than listen to an album that is fully sequenced with each track following into the next while sounding cohesive. Passport has an uncanny ability to give us an 11 song project that caps in at only 20 minutes, with each song coming in under 3 minutes, and some under 2 minutes, all while still lyrically getting his point across and not having any song fell unfinished or cut short. Features from Graph, Rigz and Rasheed Chappell all sound great too.
This is a real hip-hop album, lyrically, the production, the use of samples, and the construction are all a refreshing sound when everything we hear today sounds extremely similar. Passport Gift lyrically shows us what is going on in the world today, giving his perspective on what he sees and what he is currently going through. On, “Outside,” Rigz gives a line that sums up my above statement perfectly, “Turn that ‘guy’ off his verse giving a headache, trash.”
Using “No Vaccine” as a double meaning through the whole album expressing through some of the songs that he doesn’t want to and won’t vaccinate his child even as the doctors keep calling (“We Gonna Work It Out”) while at the same expressing that there is (at least at the moment) no vaccine for what is going on in the world. Passport Gift through out this album is showing why he is a true rapper. “My Own Lane,” “Stay out my lane I don’t sound like anybody…I’m nothing like the old or new, I’m from the everlasting heaven party,” followed by Rasheed Chappell saying, “You in the presence of a deity.”
Gift’s storytelling on “Encore,” “Gunshots,” and “Tori’s Dad,” is great towards the end of the project. The story of ending a relationship with a side piece is great after using the Jay-Z “Encore” hook. Followed by the story off being around gun shots while walking home from school. At the same time expressing the story of his father struggling in a fight with a cop. Not to mention the sample of a baby crying in the background before the song, “Tori’s Dad,” is a nice Segway. “Now I’m raising a black daughter to have the strength of a black mother, that never lack nothing.”
This is an album for true hip-hop heads, which complete sense if you think about the two people that constructed this project. Even with short time length of each song, Passport Gift is able to get a strong point across in every track. Lyrically strong, descriptive storytelling, and a strong message in each song that all flows together perfectly is just a few reasons why this is a project I personally will be going back to for multiple listens. This sample laced project is a representation of what hip-hop started as and what hip-hop (or the rap genre) is lacking today. If you are a fan of old school hip-hop in regard to sonics, lyrics, structure, and tracks, you will thoroughly enjoy this album. I will let you know that due to the nature of the lyrics and content, it may take multiple listens to catch and understand everything Passport Gift is saying, but “No Vaccine” is wroth going back to, to understand everything that is there.
A great showing from Passport Gift and Parks. I highly recommend listening to this project.
Comments