Note: Patreon supporters received access to this review on September 14th, 2024.
Don’t sleep on this latest collaborative album from Jamal Gasol & Sayzee. It was released on September 13th this year, and it was my introduction to Sayzee as an artist. I’d never heard of him before listening to the lead single for this project, which came out at the end of August if I’m not mistaken. He’s a rapper and producer, and he handled a few of the instrumentals on this project. There are also beats from others such as Sonny Carson & Beatenaunt. I really enjoyed Jamal Gasol’s last album, Fresh 31, which is actually one of my favorite albums of the year so far, so I was looking forward to this follow-up, and thankfully it ended up giving me what I wanted.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1w1o1fOKJ0BufTnqD8pIeI?si=siJkVZG9SRiE6wTg5g-4og
The first song I wanna talk about is a highlight called Antisocial. This one is produced by Imperativ, and it has a really great sample-based instrumental. The first verse is performed by Sayzee, and he kills it.
It's imperative, I back in like Merrill Lynch
I hit 'em in succession when the barrel switch
Right where your bone marrow is
I'm droppin' bombs like a born terrorist
Dr. Octagon the apple off your head, my arrow split
She give me brain like telekinesis, so I know she love me
That BBL still couldn't save her, bitch, you know you ugly
I really like the hook as well, and the second verse from Jamal is excellent. I just love the momentum that builds up in his verse as he spits. With each bar the verse just gets doper and doper. The song’s fire. The following track is called Dump Truck, and it has a relatively gritty instrumental from Sonny Carson that I like a lot. The opening verse is performed by Sayzee. He kinda sounds like J. Arrr mixed with Nick Grant to me. I really enjoyed his performance, but I have to admit that I prefer Jamal Gasol’s voice when they’re rapping. Sayzee is undeniably skilled when it comes to rhyming though. He can rap for sure. I really enjoyed his performance. Jamal killed it too.
In Summertime you smell the gun smoke as soon as the sun show
Them strays ricochet, you better duck, bro
Niggas don't give a fuck, bro
Over little money, them niggas gon' hit you up, bro
Was puttin' bitches on, skip the game, just stick you up, bro
Been a while since we used the iron and the muscle
Before I whip a trick I whip a brick with flow and hustle
CB4 niggas wanna be me, MC Gustos
Chicken finger lickin' when I stir the pot like gumbo
In the kitchen, fork flickin' sixty to a hundo
Can't post none of me and brody pics, he on the run low
AKs and AR sprays, magazines unload
Thought he had a score until that forty made him fumble
Niggas fuck they money up then tell you to be humble
But they can't tell you nothing when you made it out the struggle
The way he maintained that rhyme scheme throughout the entire verse was really awesome. I usually don’t transcribe full verses, but I had to here because the whole verse is fire. I love it. The song’s really dope. Track 7 is called Y.K.W.U., which stands for You Know What’s Up. This one’s produced by Denny LaFlare, and it’s probably the best song on the album from a strictly sonic standpoint. Denny’s dreamy production sounds like what would play in my head as I’m ascending past the clouds into Heaven. It’s one of my favorite beats on the project for sure. Jamal’s flow over it is superb too, and it just gets better and better as the verse progresses. It’s basically impossible for me to listen to this song without getting the coveted involuntary head nod. The hook is catchy as hell too. At one point Jamal references a project called Big Turks, which was a collaborative album by him, Lord Juco, and Rome Streetz. It was released by DJ Chong Wizard back in 2019, and I actually have no idea how I’d never heard of this before. It looks really awesome though, so I’m definitely gonna be checking it out after I finish writing this. Anyway, the second verse from Sayzee is also great. I don’t think his flow was as gratifying as that of Jamal Gasol, but he still had a really nice performance here. The song’s dope as hell. It’s followed by my favorite song on the project, Cutthroat. This one’s produced by The Standouts, and it has a very emotionally intense sounding instrumental. I love it. To be completely honest, I actually think Sayzee stood out the most on this track. I was really hooked by his lyricism here.
You gotta be about your bag, this world is cutthroat
Digital bread, you can't be lackin' on your uploads
And I don't be on Reddit, but you hit me with that upvote
Bad man like I'm from Jamaica fuckin' up GOATS
Curry that, cookin' in the kitchen got my finger itchin'
Teenager, too many laws broke, my mama bitchin'
A young adult caught in the streets, you know I had no vision
It's 80's babies goin' crazy, that's a true religion
His verse is actually really amazing, man. I think that’s his best verse on the album. That’s not to say that Jamal’s verse isn’t excellent as well. The whole song is fire. I just think Sayzee really stood out here. I think he sounds really awesome when he’s rapping at a relatively slower tempo. I love the song. It’s dope as fuck. Track 9 is called Special, and it’s a solo cut from Jamal Gasol, although it is produced by Sayzee. The beat is pretty nice, and Jamal sounds really good over it. I love how this song is structured. The entire thing is just one long verse where Jamal is barring out. I love how hostile he comes off here.
Back in 2010, me and brody trappin' to Frenchie
I feel I perform better when the odds against me
I play the field, but I'm chill, my nigga, don't tempt me
And you ain't gotta go up top to catch this buck 50
Towards the end of the verse, there’s a line that could be stretched as a reference to Lt. Headtrip‘s we are the karma kids label, but I don’t actually think that was the intention behind it. It’s still cool though.
Shit was karma when they said the kids was the future
Now all these kids wanna do is be like Durk & Future, the role models is losers
He might’ve actually said “calmer” instead of karma. Depending on who’s speaking, those words could be considered homophones. Anyway, the song’s really dope. The last track I wanna talk about is the closer, Purpose, which is also produced by Sayzee. This song has another one of my favorite beats on the album. The drums here are fire, and I love the melodic loop. I actually could see someone like Quelle Chris spitting over this. The opening verse from Jamal is fire, and Sayzee stood out a lot too on the second verse.
Friendships I had to cut off just like a tourniquet
You could train a dog, but you could never learn a bitch
I know my purpose with my key and I'll be turnin' it
When I find my perfect fit
You gotta tap in where your courage is
'Cause bein' slept on for multiple years is so discouragin'
This was a really nice way to finish the project. I don’t think any other track would’ve worked as well as an outro. It’s a dope song.
This album is really good. I wasn’t as enamored by the production as I was with Jamal’s previous release, but the beats are still very good, and the rapping is undeniably dope. I think perhaps the most notable accomplishment here is that this is a great introduction to Sayzee. I had never even heard of this artist until this project, and I came away from every single verse pleased. I’m fully sold on him, and I’m looking forward to familiarizing myself with more of his work in the future. I think I said this in my review of Fresh 31, but Jamal is one of those dudes who is super consistent in terms of how well he raps, so all you really gotta do is give him some fire beats for him to deliver a really enjoyable project. That’s what happened here. This is definitely worth checking out. Consider copping a CD from DITCD if you dig it. It comes in a really cool DVD case, so that’s pretty awesome. Anyway, let me know what you think of this album in the comments below. I think it’s really dope.
Favorite Song: Cutthroat
Least Favorite Song: Built 2 Last
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Grade: Bhttps://focushiphop.com/2024/09/20/jamal-gasol-sayzee-smoke-wave-dont-sleep/
#AMcCray #Beatenaunt #CHall #DennyLaFlare #Imperativ #JamalGasol #Sayzee #SonnyCarson #TheStandouts
