There’s not too much hip hop that drops nowadays that I actually get hyped for but one release that I’ve been waiting a minute for is Alchemist and Evidence’s group, The Step Brothers album to drop. Why? Why the hell not? You’ve got Alchemist who has solidified himself in my eyes as the illest producer since the new millennium and one of the dopest producers in hip hop period. And I’ve always liked Ev as a MC. And since I’ve always looked at Al as the unofficial 4th member of Dialated (cause he’s EASILY given them some of their dopest moments on wax) and since these cats have been working together for years, I know the chemistry between them is gonna be dope. So if you’re talking dope rhymes and disgusting scrunching your face up beats how could you not be hype for this to drop?
“Lord Steppington” sets off with “More Wins” which is bananas. “Dr. Kimble” has that classic Alc head nod with it and has Al setting it off, “99 bottles of beer on the wall, I break all of em/hard to choose one of the b-tches, I take all of em/before I pick up the dice, I shake all of em/money like leaves on trees, I rake all of em” while the Ev produced “Byron G” featuring Domo Genesis & The Whooliganz is dope and samples a mash up of Kanye West speeches. One from the ’05 Grammys and another from the ’08 Brit Awards and has Ev spitting, “the city is beneath, but watching from a birds eye/brain dead, two left, they shot me in my 3rd eye/shot out my eye like BB guns upon Christmas day/wish for pistols while I watch the f-cking Pistons play.” “Legendary Mesh” is more of that Alc head banger hip hop where Al samples Questlove saying “Tip is very smooth, Phife is very hype” from Tribe’s documentary “Beats, Rhymes and Life” for the chorus, “No Hesitation” featuring Style P (who KILLS his verse) samples the drums from Pacewon’s “I Declare War” with some ill strings over it while Ev gives Pace a shout out, “trying to get my Pacewon off…” and “Swimteam Rastas” sounds like some 2014 “Straight Outta Compton” madness going on while Al rhymes, “I fly off the handle, to create my supper, cause an OG told me a closed mouth doesn’t get fed/push the level over the red, pushes under my blanket, they know the spread, like butter and jelly over the bread/I’m on my alkenstine, runaway train, blowing steam from out those things/that resemble a stove top kettle, hot metal, on schedule I bust you bumbaclot rass don’t seckle/like the chamber make my vocals echo” til the beat does a 180 and gets smoothed out only to get flipped again back to some hard ish again…can’t keep up? Neither can I.
“Mums In the Garage” featuring Action Bronson is flat out stupid with Ev spittin’ “straight out the garage, Al Bundy with no horse and carriage/straight out the paratroopers, parachuting over Paris/straight out the charismatic, charisma, I caught a vision being ridden by a thick one, divorce and marriage/beautiful view from out the terrace/while I was out recruiting the crew, another tail from the careless/out of pocket, caught her staring, then knocked it out the park/Roger Maris, I shoot the fair one, I shoot the sheriff” and “See The Rich Man Play” featuring Long Island’s favorite MC, Roc Marciano is too dope for it’s own good and has Roc sounding right at home over this track while “Banging Song” featuring Fashawn follows in the footsteps of everything I’ve already said about this album so far cause this beat is just STUPID! The first single “Step Masters” is dope, “Tomorrow” featuring my dude Rakaa Iriscience and “Draw Something” follows in the vein of “Russian Roulette’s” no drums format, “Buzzing Away” has Al telling Ev that they need to make a weed song and while I thought the entire album was a weed song Ev sets it off with “Ill spit this is Step Brothers, the same relationship as Opio and Pep Love I cop Hieroglyphics /I pop when I walk and I break when I hit the ground, I talk like a rapper, got a hashtag, hit the pound/I hit the pound high and save a dog, I bring him home and let him roam in the yard, I got a cat too/I got a permanent tattoo, of tattoo riding past to, humming coming at you” and “Just Step” ends the album just as hard as “More Wins” set everything off.
Most albums that I’m REALLY waiting to drop almost always let me down. Whether I expected more from the beats or I thought the rhymes would be doper but somehow someway, I’m let down. And that’s FAR from the case with “Lord Steppington” cause I got EXACTLY what I expected out these two cats. After the last two years of music that Al has had under his belt, this dude is now the official Jimi Hendrix of hip hop in my eyes and I personally know a lot of cats don’t really rock with Ev, (which REALLY baffles me cause I think Ev is a dope MC) but he’s solid as hell on this album just like he’s always been. The ONLY beef I could see cats having with this album is Al’s rhymes. And I know Al ain’t the best MC on the planet but I’ll tell you this, as much as cats think he ain't that ill, whenever I hear an Al verse, I’m rhyming right along with dude and I've NEVER done that for a wack MC. Which means dude ain’t wack, and that’s all that matters to me. My dude Gnu from Jers told me back when Red’s “Dare Iz A Darkside” album dropped that I REALLY couldn't appreciate it cause I didn’t smoke weed. Well, I still don’t smoke weed but I mos def appreciate “Lord Steppington” so I can ONLY imagine that if I’m giving this album 4 mics, there are some weed heads out there, somewhere high as hell giving it 20 mics! Salute.
4 outta 5 mics
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