Goldin – The Adventures of Polo Rogers 2 (Bandcamp)
Goldin has returned with yet another project and I must admit, the overall theme here to me seems to be growth.
Goldin – The Adventures of Polo Rogers 2 (Bandcamp)
Goldin has returned with yet another project and I must admit, the overall theme here to me seems to be growth. I’m going to tell you two things up front. I had to listen to this project twice. Why? Because I didn’t like it the first time. What can I say? It’s been a very long month for me, maybe I just wasn’t in the mood. But you know what? My world doesn’t matter. See, this is about Goldin. So I waited, and I listened to it again, and you know what? I’m now feeling like this is Goldin’s best work to date.
So let’s get straight down to it. What we have here is 13 tracks, a couple guests (Duce, Radio B, Yonnie, Innacent) over assorted production. If there was a solid statement this project was trying to make, sorry, I missed it. In my opinion, most of these tracks stand on their own. Some are enhanced by the sequencing, others (i.e. track 3, “Naughty Network”) really seem out of context. I would have preferred to hear them later on in the project as I felt I was being asked to bend to soon, especially after the soulful feel of track 2, “Serenades Of Saigon.” Stylistically, it seems Goldin is a big Jay Z fan. That’s cool, but all whisper flow moments aside, he does his own thing throughout this project, speaking confidently and keeping up with the production–to which I will say, again, to me represents growth, being that there is a stronger sense of focus present throughout this project.
What I didn’t get is Goldin’s tendency to just leave about a minute or so of some tracks as just beat, no lyrics. With that said, I would like to see something straightforward from Goldin, that provides a bit more substance garnished with style, rather than style that’s been garnished with substance, which you will hear a lot of here. Anyway, I didn’t like every song on this project and to me, that’s OK. I’m a fan of progress. Goldin, I’m glad to see that you have kept working, and also I think it’s pretty cool that you used some beats made by your brother Bigal Harrison; after all, steel sharpens steel.
Lyrix Anthony – 94 (Soundcloud/iTunes)
Look at this–Lyrix is growing up. “When he turned 19, he burned 19 L’s.” Listening to this project made me proud. I know Lyrix from back in the day, like way back. And yeah, he had skills, but in this case, I felt time. See time isn’t one of those things that you can touch, but it touches you, the listener. It’s the voice of experience. Lyrix is on his 90’s thing here, so its all about (I hate this term) that “Golden Era” vibe. Whatever man, the time is now, and I liked the aggressive approach, and the sum of this project’s parts. It took me back to that hunger–I felt like Lyrix had something to prove with this. It was cool to hear him hold his own with Octavion X and Chance Fisher on “Wild West,” or Dr. Millionaire on “Don’t Get Mirked.” These guys are all MC’s, who–just like Lyrix who is clearly on his mission to at this moment–have proven themselves many times over as a credit to this culture, and this city.
That was another thing. This project is all about Richmond; there’s an actual love for this city coursing through the veins of its content. Of course I can’t leave out that the production is solid, and the other features from Yaper’s own Big Kahuna OG and Lyrix’s MYT partner in rhyme Koncept Jack$on (keep doing your thing, Koncept!) do serve to enhance rather than detract. It seems the hunger was contagious. This project took me back. I felt like in some sort of way I even may have played a part in it, because I, just like Lyrix, am Richmond. I do my best every time to put my heart into anything I dare allow you to press play on. When it comes to this, I don’t play, and I’m glad to see and hear that in a similar fashion on this one, Lyrix didn’t either: he came with lyrics.
Oh, and in response to that tweet you sent me… WOFTD.
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Known as the hardest-working man in RVA hip hop, Black Liquid hosts two local radio shows–Thursday nights 11pm-1am on WDCE 90.1 FM, and Saturday nights (aka Sunday mornings) 1am-3am on WRIR 97.3 FM–organizes the bi-monthly Face Melt Fridays at Strange Matter, and teaches creative writing to 7th and 8th graders at Sabot at Stony Point School. He’s also a prolific emcee, having released nearly two dozen mixtapes either as a solo artist or with his compatriots in The New Juice Crew over the past several years. Download his new album, Title, as well as his considerable back catalog, at NoiseTrade.
