Reks is one of those artists that when you hear he’s dropping a new album the anticipation is high and you know your gonna get treated like a fat kid in a sweet shop. This is no different, even though the fact this is his 12th studio album and nearly 20 years in the game he sounds as hungry as ever and that’s a rare thing for any Hip Hop artist with 2 decades behind them in the game and with a line up like this; Pharoahe Monch, Lil Fame, Nottz, Evidence, Apollo Brown, Statik Selektah, Singapore Kane, ShortFyus, Drugs Beats and more “T.H.I.N.G S.” is a masterful album and one of Reks best yet. It’s got something for everyone (apart from mumble rap lovers, sorry, not SORRY). Its got smooth flava, raw bangers, minimalist, Conceptual and even a laid back chick track! From the jump off it starts with more flava than Nando’s Piri Piri sauce!
“Strong.Ready.Able” is so smooth and a great way to kick it off. Nottz knocked the production out the park on the title track! It’s soulful, uplifting, feel good and yet the beat still bangs! That’s masterful work and of course Reks goes in and really does paint pictures on this (pretty much the whole album is an audio story journey). With his conceptual, deep thinking lyrics on tracks like “The Complex” which is about PTSD and big pharma and, features the one and only Pharoahe Monch. “Rachel Green” is about white privilege and “White House” touches on being black in America. “Civilised Barbarians” is an absolute banger produced by Evidence and Reks lays down fire bars. “Animal Kingdom” produced by Apollo Brown just slaps. With a sick bass line and wicked drums with some simple samples which are mostly atmos which make it sound like the jungle. There is much more to this album and touching on every track would really take a lot of time to really dive into so i’ll leave the rest for discovery.
BANGERS: T.H.I.N.G.S., Miss Education, Civilized Barbarians, The Complex, Rachel Green, Ego, White House, Benjamin’s Dead, King Of The Town, Animal Kingdom and many more.
SCORE: 10/10 This is a perfect album with something for everyone and as well as deep thought and conceptual bars, it also has straight flame spitting and is a perfect blend.
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