The final album in the trilogy from Raf Almighty x BigBob, ‘Big Almighty‘ is one heck of a hip hop album. Continuing the exceptional chemistry between the emcee and producer that we’ve seen all year on projects such as ‘537 Dolphin Street‘ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Baltimore‘, ‘Big Almighty‘ moves the needle once more diving into an eclectic collaboration of modern boom bap beats and high quality lyricism.
Raf Almighty is in his bag this year, delivering a host of dope content but it isn’t just the quantity of releases we have been blessed with, it’s the level of lyricism that is continually trending up. Big Almighty is another example or being able to navigate with authenticity, the balance of gruff street tales, rugged story telling, and flat out just spitting bars. The listener then gets drawn in by the flow and hooked on the crafting of each song. Equally as impressive, is BigBob who always manages to find sounds and production styles that not only suit Raf, but also the modern boom bap soundscape without sounding tired or oversaturated – as we get with a lot of the ‘Griselda’ clones.
Take a track like ‘Whip Crack‘ for example. The sound bytes, the drums, the eerie strings coupled with a dope Rakim sample and hardbody bars from Raf. It’s a highlight of the album, but also a great reference point for the review the way is effortlessly blends everything together for something authentic and fresh. ‘Food Of The Gods‘ is another example featuring deep, dark keys, killer cuts and samples all over a dope boom bap beat that Raf Almighty, Milano Constantine and Ruste Juxx SMASH on.
There aren’t too many features on the album, but the ones we do get are quality and really fit with the style of album, work brilliantly alongside Raf and work the BigBob beats to perfection as well. Ruler Gods collaborator Gstats appears on ‘Jackie Chans‘, Eddie Kaine and Jamil Honesty bring their bars and lyricism to ‘Actuality‘ while Skans The Rap Martyr gets in on the act spitting fire on ‘Apply Pressure‘. Guy Grams, Sunez and Zodica are the only other features as the majority of the project is focused heavily on Raf and BigBob – hence the Big Almighty.
Hip hop heads are going to really enjoy this project. It has that traditional Dirt Platoon feel, but as mentioned, BigBob really works his own sound into these anthems. Raf Almighty is as engaged and focused as ever, and with a guest list on high quality artists, there is no drop off once you press play. Add this one to the collection, put it in the rotation and enjoy a bitchin’ boom bap offering!
Bangers: Whip Crack, Jackie Chans, Food Of the Gods, Actuality, Bible Paper
Score: 9.5 / 10. Rounding out a top tier year of hip hop, Big Almighty is going to be in heavy rotation over the holiday period and then some. It’s sound is so gritty and real, but also refreshing to mix up the drums / keys / samples to avoid the same ‘coke rap’ that we get a lot of these days. When Raf spits, I always listen and I’m more and more impressed each time, while BigBob continues to become one hell of a force on the boards.
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