Off The Face

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t have predicted the career projection of AYOO! When I first heard him I thought he’d stick to that one lane (which he was dominated) but I’ve noticed since last year he’s gone down paths and collaborated with names that I wouldn’t of expected which has made him a versatile figure in the culture and this new album might be his most ambitious yes! Let’s talk about it! This is the brand new collaborative effort between MC’s AYOO BIGZ & Starz Coleman and features on the beats -Nar Beats -iTrak -Nat Turner -Proffeny -KFresh And features the likes of -DJ Flash -KNG Bondalero And man this is quite the banger of the record! When we discuss the production aspect we obviously have the list above of names helping bring the beats to life and I can’t help but feel a fusion of late 90’s to 2000’s vibe across the board! This kind of feels like the 50 Cent, Eminem, Dr Dre era of production! The loud, abrasive and banging type that you could bop your head to all day for weeks and never get sick of type! A return to a nostalgic time in my life when that was all I was popping! I mean we have tracks like - Crimeside which kicks the album off! On this one we hear the mix of that Wu Tang ‘C.R.E.A.M’ inspired cuts with those lush pianos, heavy bass and methodically charged drums! The perfect homage to kick the record off and set the tone of the rest of the album! Shoutout to DJ Flash on that one! We have tracks such as -Crash Test Dummies which reminds me of 2001 Dr Dre era sounds! You’ve got those rhythmic chords in that luscious loop which ends with those echoing executions alongside some minimal/traditional drums and some synth style strings! This one has a subtle yet dangerous feel to it that works well for the MC’s to go off on! Or the track -Stingray which is classical meets boom Bap! From that beautiful vocal harmony loop combined with that beehive style chord progressions associated with some hypnotic drums and heavy bass! A very common sound in this album but one that I could listen to any time of the week! When we discuss the bars! We get to talking about a chemistry that’s solid between two tremendous MC’s! Two usually different lanes but as we find out on this album share one hell of a synced path that makes some of the dopest music you’ll hear all year! The way these two match each others energy, feed off the conviction and passion of the other, the passing of the verse to the next and not breaking rhythm and harmony it’s just all smooth and well crafted to the letter. I love they both contain such rugged auras about them. Both men have this raw and uncompromising atmospheres about them. I’d say Starz has a slightly more wavy and fluent sense regarding his performances but both have the same level of raw talent, no nonsense attitudes and that’s one major thing they feed off each other when it comes to this record! For only 7 tracks and not even 20 minutes these two BRING THE HEAT! Both men cut from the same cloth and act accordingly. I’d say their track with -KNG is probably my favourite feature wise as those 3 men spit unquestionably hard verses back to back to back over that ridiculous beat! Definitely a solid entry on the record! All in all (as I expected it to be) another solid addition to the list! It’s memorable, grimy and hard hitting with fantastic performances to match!