Review Summary: A beautiful reminder of what Hip Hop can be at its most soulful.
Upon hearing standout track "Kodak Gold", I was instantly engrossed in the soulful melodic silhouettes as they were painting nostalgic sepia draped images in my mind. These tunes combined with Yogisoul's effective delivery propel this album into the running for one of the most cohesive hip hop projects this year.
Its quite obvious where he draws his inspiration, 90's acts like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and even Erykah Badu. Of course the most obvious tribute is seen on the interlude "House of Jazz" which features the memorable Q-Tip line from "Verses from the Abstract". This sets the tone for the entire album. This feels like an ATCQ album that was mixed that was made in 2016.
This isn't a bad thing for two reasons, the first is that ATCQ is far from the worst inspiration. The second and most important is the combination of Yogi's infectious flow and grooves. These grooves often feature a mixture of sounds from those of live sets to truly atmospheric synth ballads. Even the tracks that feature no rapping at all are enjoyable at worst and down right moving at best (i.e. Here & Now & Lighter).
All in all, upon listening to this album the most prevalent feeling that emerged was one of completion.
This is a well put together Hip Hop album that isn't perfect, but I challenge you to find a worthy fault.
