Review Summary: A flame to keep you warm in the cold
2014 seemed to be a big year for Cunninlynguists; they dropped their third mixtape earlier in the year, found themselves on a few guest spots, and managed to team up with Eligh and The Grouch to drop an EP before the year’s end. The group of underground hip hop stars continues to hit their marks but don’t delve into anything uncharted but regardless manage to put out a solid batch of songs worth listening to keep you warm in the cold.
The EP starts off promising with “Fire In Her Eyes” and right off the bat you can get a feel of how the ep will sound. Kno continues to produce top notch quality beats to go along the flows of Cunninlynguists and guests Eligh and The Grouch. True to the album title the songs have both a feeling of warmth (the aforementioned Fire in Her Eyes, Gas Station Attendant) and shattering cold (Only the Past, 100 Years). What I mean by this is that certain songs have a fiery drive to them or a somber dread behind them amplified by the tone the artists take as well as the tunes behind them. The lyrics in songs like the album highlight “100 Years” really amplify this and provide for a really impacting song.
Even though the Cunninlynguists provide the most consistency in terms of flow, the other two artists don’t use them as crutch as this truly does feel like a group effort. Eligh actually has the goods to be right up there with Deacon and Natti. The Grouch, however, is very hit and miss. His verse in “Fire in her Eyes” comes off as lazy but he’s obviously capable of better quality as evident in “Only the Past”. Oddly enough, Kno only lends his flow to one song on the album but it manages to be one of his most memorable verses in years.
"The same states that viewed Earl as a heathen
He turned around and shot guns for they freedom
World War II lucky to come back
In 91 he lost a son in Iraq
Enough to make the old man's blood boil
Earl bled for freedom, his son bled for oil
In his belongings cassettes by P.E
Reminded Earl of the protest songs by Stevie
When Earl was young they lynched kids in the streets
But now the Klan wears Blue not sheets"
It’s a welcome change having two hip hop groups come together and collaborate to make a short but sweet ep that manages to feel like it belongs in the season it finds its setting in. I’m interested in watching what both groups do know after seeing what they’re both capable in and hope to see them at least as guest spots in each other’s upcoming albums. What’s here is great and well worth a listen and although it seems to end a bit quickly, it finds itself being a staple to the winter’s cold.
