‘The Emperor’s Deity‘ is yet another highly lyrical, well produced and brilliantly crafted hip hop album from Supreme Cerebral as he just continues to deliver masterful hip hop for the culture. You’ve probably lost count at this point, but Supreme Cerebral has been consistently dropping heat rock after heat rock, and hip hop heads are truly grateful both for the consistent new music, but also the diverse and high calibre art he delivers. And if you’re not up with the homie by now, the I don’t know what to tell you – other than you’re doing hip hop wrong (You can rectify that by clicking here!). But for those of you reading, it’s likely I’m preaching to the converted, so let’s just dive right on in and get to discussing ‘The Emperor’s Deity‘ and just how dope it is!
The project is a pairing of Supreme Cerebral on the mic and Vinyl Villain handling things on the boards. We already got a taste of the album, when they dropped ‘Shotgun Barrel‘ and ‘Home of the Gritty‘ but there are another 8 incredible tracks on this release that we’re gonna need to talk about! The album starts with ‘Gunna Learn Today‘ and you know from the jump that SC is going to be in his bag on this one, the hardcore bars over really dope boom bap production, is a formula for top tier music, and this has an elegance to it’s grit. ‘Shotgun Barrel‘ is next, and then Killy Shoot joins forces for ‘Street Gospel‘ which has a nefarious feel, bringing a real edginess to both the production but also the bars that both Killy and SC spit.
‘Violet Outbreak‘ hits heavy with the bars from the jump. Supreme really leans into the hardbody bars on this one and Vinyl Villain obliges with an edgy, rugged boom bap track that penetrates the speakers. Up next, ‘Tong Po Muay Thai‘ commences with chants from the iconic Kickboxer movie, and SC brings the violence with the verbals, as his bars rip over the middle-eastern inspired soundtrack, and then ‘Bas Rutten‘ continues the ferocity of flow, the attack on the mic is relentless and Vinyl Villain creates audio so robust it can handle the onslaught and still cut through with its own personality (mirroring that of the infamous fighter the track is named after).
While clocking in under two minutes, don’t let the condensed nature of ‘Total Chaos‘ fool you, it’s a dark, menacing track and SC spares no one with bars like “dead bodies need prayers, so start praying”. Two heavy spitters bring the noise on ‘Supreme Honesty‘ as Jamil Honesty brings his smoother flow to complement the brutal bars of SC and the soundtrack is very lounge-esque and soulful – even if the bars are anything but and then it’s the second single ‘Home of the Gritty‘ following on from that fire. The final track is ‘WW3‘ featuring Body Bag Ben on the mic (he’s also a dope producer, but Vinyl Villain has that covered this time around!) and this is a battle cry, a triumphant anthem that rings out with loud confidence and killer bars. Unlike the collab with Jamil Honesty, these emcees are equally as barbaric on the mic and take no prisoners with emphatically delivered bully rap over boom bap.
Bangers: Street Gospel, WW3, Total Chaos, Bas Rutten.
Score: 9 / 10. When will people learn not to sleep on Supreme Cerebral? After four diverse yet equally as dope albums in 2022, he kicks 2023 off with this end to end verbal insanity, and Vinyl Villain produces a really interesting and engaging score, with that golden era vibe – and his own spin on things. The pressure is relentless and the lyrics aren’t for the faint of heart, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Get this into rotation now, as it’s going to end up on a lot of lists come years end.
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