Last Friday, Boldy James and The Alchemist released their third collaboration album, Bo Jackson. Through 14 tracks that span 44 minutes, this duo manages to reinvent themselves once again, and it ultimately results in their best effort to date. Opposed to the more deluded and gloomy feel of their last record, The Price Of Tea In China, Uncle Al’s soundscape is much more polished and pristine, which gives the lp a feel like nothing else Boldy’s ever rapped over. Challenging Boldy with this much more intuitive soundscape, the revered Detroit MC delivers a career-defining performance filled with complex rhyme schemes and head-turning punchlines. With every verse he spits, Boldy’s constantly showing off his top-tier lyrical ability through slippery tales that depict the highs and lows of his crime-ridden, drug-surrounded upbringing. The way the 39-year-olds faint yet commanding delivery brings these stories to life over Al’s one-of-a-kind memorizing loops is truly magical, considering how attentive Al is to every inner detail of Boldy’s storytelling. Taking this LP to new heights, an array of top-tier MCs, including Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt, and Benny The Butcher, deliver show-stealing performances that manage to make the environment feel grimier than it already is. Overall, in a day and age where many albums feel like their emulating the last, Boldy James and The Alchemist show why they’re at the top of the game with this masterful gangsta rap experience.
Key Strengths:
- Jagged, head-turning lyricism from Boldy James
- The Alchemist pushes his sonic boundaries forward with his best production job since Alfredo
- Top Tier features from names like Freddie Gibbs, Benny The Butcher, and Earl Sweatshirt
Core Ideas:
- The highs and the lows of Boldy James’s crime-ridden, drug-filled past
- Comparing Boldy James to multisport legend Bo Jackson, due to the various roles Boldy has played in his life and on the streets specifically
Tracklist Ranked:
1. Photographic Memories (Feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Roc Marciano)
2. Fake Flowers (Feat. Curren$y & Freddie Gibbs)
3. Illegal Search & Seizure
4. Drug Zone
5. Brickmile To Montana (feat. Benny The Butcher)
6. Double Hockey Sticks
7. 3rd Person
8. Steel Wool
9. Turpentine
10. Flight Risk
11. First 48 Freestyle
12. Diamond Dallas (Feat. Stove God Cooks)
13. E.P.M.D.
14. Speed Trap
Rating: 8.5/10
Written By: Mr. Fantastic