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Album Reviews

Raekwon Returns To His Prime on ‘The Wild’ (Album Review)

admin by admin
April 5, 2017
Raekwon Announces New Album ‘The Wild’; Reveals Cover Art

I’ve talked about artist growth in the past and how fans have become a hindrance to it this century. On one hand you want to please your faithful supporters, the ones who have made you into a rich celebrity. The other side of that coin is a creative risk that may steer those day one supporters away from your work but it also has the potential to bring in new fans. Playing it safe will get you killed by critics as will experimenting with sounds that possibly don’t fit your audience. Just two years ago, Raekwon was in this predicament with his Fly International Luxurious Art album. Rae didn’t change his style but to some it appeared as him selling out. That project had features from A$AP Rocky, French Montana, and 2 Chainz that didn’t seem to fit.

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Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl 59 halftime performance was nothing short of legendary, leaving fans buzzing with surprise cameos and bold moments that took his long-running feud with Drake to new heights. Kicking off with an unreleased song snippet and followed by “Squabble Up” from his latest album GNX, Kendrick immediately set the tone for a game-changing performance. Fans eagerly waited to see if Kendrick would play his diss track Not Like Us, especially with Drake's ongoing lawsuit against him and his label for defamation and harassment. Lamar's performance included an unexpected appearance by SZA and a quirky cameo from Serena Williams, along with Samuel L. Jackson’s comedic interruptions, all building the suspense around the Drake drama. In the middle of his performance, Kendrick turned up the heat, looking straight into the camera and directly addressing Drake with his famous lyrics, “I heard you like them young," as fans held their breath. Despite the tension, Kendrick censored himself when it came time to call Drake a "certified lover boy" and avoided saying “pedophile,” which had been widely speculated. Social media lit up with mixed reactions, with some fans mocking the performance as a "mid mashup" and others noting the intense hostility toward Drake. With the hashtag #KendrickBowl trending, it’s clear that Kendrick’s performance was a cultural moment that pushed boundaries—but has he gone too far, or is this just another chapter in hip-hop history? Only time will tell, and Drake has yet to respond.
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Two years can make a difference for many artists. Taking time off helps you get the creative juices flowing and helps you see things in ways you may not have seen them while making your art. Raekwon used that time to go back to his roots, giving us gritty rhymes, exceptional storytelling, and head nodding beats for 2017’s The Wild. It used to feel weird when Rae wasn’t rhyming over beats from RZA but with this album it feels natural, as production from Frank G., Dame Grease, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, and more help get Raekwon back to his sparring weight.

Raekwon has always been one of the best storytellers in Hip-Hop and he gets back in that mode, most notably with the Cee-Lo Green featured ‘Marvin’. This song captures Rae at his best; he gives us what feels like the documentary that Marvin Gaye deserved from beginning to end. Raekwon uses the Frank G. beat as his landscape to paint his master portrait, using each line as the brush stroke to help you see what he’s wanting to convey. Cee-Lo’s voice is magical on this chorus and the song’s replay value is high as this feels like a movie that you can’t help but watch over and over again. Where the features felt out of place on F.I.L.A., they make sense with every song on The Wild. Newcomer P.U.R.E fits well on ‘M&N’, Lil’ Wayne sounds rejuvenated on ‘My Corner’, and Andra Day pours out her soul on ‘Visiting Hour’. Even G-Eazy steps his lyrics up on “Purple Brick Road”, showing that he has more potential than the suburban rap tunes many critics and internet users have accused him of creating.

The Wild is strong lyrically with such records as ‘The Reign’ and ‘Crown Of Thorns’, giving you a vintage Raekwon feeling. However this album lacks in the skit department. They don’t fit the overall narrative of the album and serve as filler to pass the time between songs, which can become a painful 90 seconds if you don’t skip over them. Skits can still be fun if executed the right way but these come off more as inside jokes that we just don’t understand. Take those away and this is an amazing album from an artist who has been one of the best at his craft in three consecutive decades. The Wild sees Raekwon getting back to his natural roots, creating visual pictures that appear cinematic in your head upon hearing the songs. If bars are your favorite thing about Hip-Hop then you’ll be giving this one a spin over and over again.

Repeatable: ‘Marvin’, ‘The Reign’, ‘Crown Of Thorns’

Skippable: The Skits

By Joe Coad

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