Dear Curren$y (re: Pilot Talk)
It's a great day in music when, as an artist, you see your wildest dreams come to fruition and your music take on a life of its own. Curren$y, your album 'Pilot Talk' is the fruits of your labor growing into a mysterious garden of fresh rhymes, incredible production, and a strange stench of well-tended herbs. Spitta, you've come a long way. From proclaiming 'Where the Cash At' behind the ego of Lil' Wayne, to destroying a mixtape circuit where few are well-equipped and fewer make it out alive, to becoming the underground's green thumb, you've circled the block so many times, you might as well live there. Pilot Talk, though only your third album (with more on the way), is a culmination of sorts. Rather than digital releases and blog leaks, this work has a much more professional and personal touch to it, right down to the cover (see above). Damon Dash's reincarnation of Roc-A-Fella Records has breathed life into your already vibrant career, and I for one couldn't be more excited.
Around this time last year, I was fresh off listening to your juggernaut of a mixtape with Wiz Khalifa, 'How Fly'. Now, that was damn near a classic (by today's standards; don't get it twisted), but one thing stuck out to me: how juvenile, or better yet, unrefined it sounded. If a person wasn't a fan of you or Wiz, they heard this:
Weed, cars, sneakers, weed, girls, weed, flight metaphors, weed, random video game/sports/movie/music reference, weed, cars, weed, sneakers, girls, weed
That's a lot of marijuana references for someone who, I hope, doesn't wish to be classified as a stoner rapper. You and Wiz reek of excellence, but I doubt you want to be the next Cheech and Chong. You needed to step your game up, in a real way. You needed to show the world that the Hot Spitta is a pro at this, not just a good amateur with connections. In other words you needed to rise above the smoke. Pilot Talk is the work that, when we go back and look at your career, will be recognized as your turning point, or the takeoff point. The album is ridiculously well produced. Every beat sounds masterful, especially Breakfast (probably my favorite song of the past 3 months), whose horns and new guitar melody (it's a much deeper beat than the one I posted a while back) will put the most restless soul at ease. Your lyrics sounded effortless there, with more subliminal wordplay than most would know what to do with. Tracks like Prioritize, Roasted, The Hangover and Address show you haven't lost the edge that got you to this point. When you said you spit vicious, you weren't lying.
There's a supreme cockiness that I can hear in your voice, yet you rap about having your head on straight, investing your money wisely and being a workaholic. I guess Dame Dash has rubbed off on you, and his DD172 collective have done you well. There's tenable growth that people who haven't been listening might not see. Curren$y, there weren't any moments during the album that made me want to press skip. It was simply a good listen. The features were a highlight too. Mikey Rocks ripped his verse, Big KRIT and Smoke DZA surprised me again on Skybourne, and Devin the Dude played the perfect sidekick to your only
#dopetracks:
Address
Prioritize
Breakfast
Example
Audio Dope
Loosies:
Curren$y - The Day (ft. Mos Def & Jay Electronica)
Rick Ross - Super High (Remix) (ft. Curren$y & Wiz Khalifa)