OG Maco

Release Date: | Tracklist

Normally I refuse to review releases where I don't know anything about the musicians at work. I think it is highly disrespectful against the artists to have an opinion about them just because of one of their projects. Maybe they have an interesting backstory, that can give some insight on their work. Maybe their music has a consistent progression, in which you can understand where to place their current project. But in recent memory, I barely heard something that bothered me as much as this project by OG Maco and Key!.

You know, I always try to be as objective and fair as I can. And because of that, I will get the positives out the way first. Key! and OG Maco are pretty attention-grabbing rappers. Their unpredictableness in flow, cadence, pronunciation and random scream-fits are highly entertaining and keep you on your toes. Also, they play off each other very well, with Key! being generally more chill and in control while Maco has his, well, fits. Ad-Lib wise they also are hilariously confusing and memorable. And I wish, I honestly wish there were more positives to this.

I don't know how or why this kind of music became acceptable, or why this exists in the first place, but this project right here is one of the biggest black-holes in terms of everything I have ever encountered. These guys say nothing. Really nothing. There is nothing of interest at all on this EP concept-wise. And I mean, I could get behind stupid music like this, because this isn't supposed to be deep or anything, but if you are this at loss for themes and bars, and are this bland and generic at reciting the same old ***, you probably should check your head, if this music is really what you want to do.

The production on this thing here is also something really worth discussing. Because this is some of the most minimalist production I ever heard on anything ever. And this could be fine. Minimalism can be used very effectively. In fact, the very first song on here uses it interestingly. Prophets with Profit has a very dark, brooding atmosphere with lingering bass-notes, sparse dissonant guitar-sounds, chimes and some live-sounding percussion thrown in. It's really ear-grabbing and actually makes you interested in what is going to happen on this release. But afterwards, every track consists of really simplistic piano or synth-lines that sound like they were played on broken Casios with soft 808s thrown in the back. It's incredibly grating, because every song sounds the same. Nothing stands out, it's like one big song dragged out into infinity. These 29 minutes feel like eternities. It's not even funny anymore. Brandon Thomas, who dominates the production on here, should be crowned as one of the worst trap-rap-producers in recent memory. Also, Sonny Digital, I am disappointed with your beat on F*ck Da Competition. You can do so much better.

This is really, really baffling how something like this even came into existence. There is almost nothing of worth here, and what is interesting gets drowned out by mind-numbing periods of nothingness. I hear a lot of people talking about that this type of music is made for young people, to have fun and not think about anything. Purely functional music, so to speak. But even in this aspect, this music is absolutely worthless. It's too minimalist to be danceable, it's too generic to look into and it's too weird to recommend it to someone. Maybe I don't get this record, maybe I'm too old for this, even though I didn't hit my twenties yet, but taken at absolute face-value, this is nothing. This is not worth your time, except if you want to be confused by the absolute dumbfounding qualities of Key!s and Macos flows, ad-libs and Brandon Thomas minimalist beats. But maybe you should listen to it first. This may not be the worst thing to come out of modern trap, but it sure as hell has no reason to exist whatsoever.

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3 good