Rap veteran and legend A.G from D.I.T.C fam, drops a brand new album seemingly out of nowhere, to remind hip hop heads that he’s still that man! ‘Giant In The Mental‘ is ten new tracks of quality, old school meets new school boom bap that ensures your head stays in constant momentum and your headphones are on fire warning. With a career spanning three decades, A.G know how to rock a microphone, and this latest album showcases that his pen game has aged as well a fine wine, with crafty wordplay, bully bars and introspective and thoughtful street poetry.
‘Andre The Giant‘ gets things started in a brutal way with the DJ Manipulator produced number hitting you square in the face, making sure you sit up and take notice before ‘Never Ready‘ slides in with a more subdued soundscape, but still showcases A.G’s ability to straight up spit and deliver verbal narratives with the best. A more traditionally dusty, boom bap, 90’s vibe comes into the mix with ‘News Reel‘ with some social commentary and poignant prose placed over a melodic track and ‘Son of Jor-El‘ continues that smooth, funky vibe to ride to.
The guitar on ‘About to Crash‘ is melancholy and moving which creates quite a different score for A.G. to deliver some words of wisdom through this tale about chasing females and acting crazy because what that ass do. ‘Poison Grapes‘ uses keys to create a real punchy head nodder of a beat that serves as a vehicle for some more touching vernacular, while ‘The Bottom‘ is an audio-biography as A.G. talks about the come up and journey from the bottom and the struggle experienced in a way that drips with authenticity and emotion.
A.G keeps spitting flame-filled bars as he rips over a hectic beat on ‘The Sphinx‘, dropping knowledge and spitting hard truths and then it’s onto the penultimate track ‘Summer School‘ which is A.G just spitting facts and bars about his thirty years in the game. The album concludes with ‘Alpha Beta‘, a motivational joint where the positive energy is palpable through the headphones. It’s a great way to conclude the album which is nothing but dope beats and A.G going hard on the mic. No guest spots, no radio joints, just the real audio therapy.
Bangers: The Sphinx, Andre The Giant, News Reel, The Bottom.
Score: 8.5 / 10. This is a really enjoyable album from a seasoned emcee. A.G. possesses the ability to make you listen without sounding forced or moving onto subjec matter that doesn’t resonate with him as an artist. The beat choice was great and there was a nice blend and balance to the old school sounding boom bap and the more modern sounding tracks with added keys, snares etc. If anything, there was probably scope to really go a little harder with the D.I.T.C sounding bully rap, that more in your face street corner rap, but it’s a very mature offering from the icon.
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