"This that who dat against who askin'? Boo-yea again!"
Hip Hop is dead? Possibly, if you've put your trust in the shooter....
A quarter of the Hip-Hop supergroup, Slaughterhouse, Royce Da 5'9 has been a denizen of the industry for 15 years. Anyone whose listened to him until this point: You will not be disappointed. If not, you will be elated by Royce's intricate manipulation of subject material and immaculate wordplay.
To clarify, though this is easily an accessible and enjoyable work of art, there are depths to this release that many may not grasp given their level of attentiveness. That being said, Royce has never positioned himself as a mainstream linguist and his scattershot flow is certainly distinctive. Like his last project, (PRhyme), I believe it will draw in whomever decides to click play.
From the beginning, you know that something special is about to take place. When the plucking of strings begin in "Black History", you intially question the direction of the project. I will tell you now, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG. This is a coverless book and judging before digging in is a fool's mistake. The production on the entire EP is ridiculously top notch. It sounds like an album. Salute to Jahlil Beats, Araabmuzik, Nottz, Jake One, and Mr Porter. They've done amazing work.
Back to Royce....this grimey bastard. Ha! As you will undoubtedly hear, his sincerity will be beating the shitbricks out of beats. The very first song it is baffling how he is able to weave his story of being a baby with a collapsed lung to how they've diagnosed his first-born with ADHD. Continuing from there, he seamlessly transitions to a description of how the famed pair, Gangstarr, came to be. Then it's all in from there! He appropriately beasts all over "Savages" then goes into my favorite track from the project, "Dead President Heads".
What he is able to accomplish in the finite time of an instrumental is utterly ridiculous. Seriously. On track 3, he even takes a shot (in my opinion) at one of Hip Hop's darlings, J. Cole. Royce rhymes, "I ain't rock with an Entourage since '07/Niggas diss Marshall after they copy his whole preference/Like we won't send an actual firing squad to they studio/That'll Basquiat they whole session." Given that Cole name-dropped Em on 2014 Forest Hills Drive, "Fire Squad", I'd be a fool to think otherwise. Royce has a hell of a good time with this tack and it obvious when he says, "Relax junior/You still think you in high school, but you not/But you will be lookin' at your last New Year/ Ha, booyea!". Don't even make me mention the "kick game" line...
There's also extremely personal material on display here. "Tabernacle", following the unbelievably awesome "Universe (Interlude)", is one of Royce's most powerful and deliberate tracks to date. On it, he describes meeting Marshall Mathers, the birth of his first son and losing his grandmother all on the SAME DAY. I honestly just have to tell you to listen. This is as real as an artist can get:
From here, the assault continues on. Even the bonus track is bouncy and entrancing in its own right. Honestly, this is some of his better work in the past few years and I truly can't recommend it enough. Also, if you truly enjoyed this EP, make sure to buy his new album, Layers, in store and online now!!!
From E to You review score - 5.0 out of 5.0 (Xertified)
Datpiff Download: http://www.datpiff.com/Royce-Da-59-Trust-The-Shooter-mixtape.775035.html
Favorite tracks: Dead President Heads, Which is Cool, Tabernacle and Universe.
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