Nowadays – it ain’t much rap that brings that classic feeling back. It’s tough to look anywhere but under the Griselda umbrella to find those lyricists that break generational curses with their cursive. Most songs hit for the moment or the club but are discarded shortly thereafter. Fuego Base Black Soprano Family’s latest foundational project, “Biggest Since Camby” has zero throwaways and multiple tracks with the Rewind factor.
First off – what is the rewind factor? This concept is multilayered in the sense that you hear a line or stanza and think – what did he just say? 📼⏮📼Or as is the case with this latest B$F release – it has been rewinded and replayed on our sound bar at home, stereo in the whip, headphones at work etc. This also goes for lines that you hear on the first/second/third listen but don’t truly understand the reference/entendre until that fourth/fifth/sixth listen.
Old Souls with Old Money
Almost every modern problem revolves around instant gratification. With the E-Z Bake Oven mentality, too many hip-hop connoisseurs either A) Listen to music that sounds like everyone else’s B) Judge a project off of the first time they hear it or C) Both. Let’s say for the sake of quality – the consumer only chooses option B. The “Biggest Since Camby” project defies that toxic listening trait by mandating the listener to listen all the way through multiple times.
Well, at least that is the effect it had on us. As far as we are concerned, this body of work put Fuego Base immediately on the map. The best artists carry combinations. Fuego Base combines charm, wittiness, raspiness, humor and authentic storytelling. Only having put out a few mixtape trilogies since 2018, it is downright amazing to witness these artists hold their own with classic emcees like Sheek Louch (LOX) in such a short span of time.
“At one point it wasnt order round us – these corners see shells but aint no water round us – we wanted more around us than that war around us – so we stepped it up a notch and really ordered flounders.”
Ron Francis – Fuego Base
There are so many gems on this project it is tough to play any other album on rotation lately. Yes, when we find something we like we play the hell out of it until it demands a break. One of the many things that makes this project so incredible is the raw vulnerability in the subject matter.
Base Bares All
God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. Or so it seems.. the real ones go early because God needs them back in his company sooner. Growing up in Hartford, CT a.k.a Homicide Hartford a.k.a Gotham City really made a warrior out of this man.
On this project he speaks about living in a shelter – “If you knew I was there then you was there too.”
He gives the utmost praise to his late mother – “I guess its just the Lord’s will – my mother cancer stage IV but she told me go on the tour still – Leave the hood never seem no different – Mom raised us off of chemo visions.”
There are some hilarious lines –
“They killing here in the daylight // So my strap big as Young MA’s is on a date night” [Holding On]
“At the Oscars bet my shot’ll splash – If Will Smith slapped me bet a roofer woulda shot his ass” [Ron Francis]
“Bodies drop when my battalion through & I be lowkey gettin blown off like Thee Stallion toe” [Warehouse Pt. 2]
And of course several extremely fly lines –
“Devil got his tricks but God don’t play about me” (WHP2)
“Fire behind my name got diamonds too”
“I sold drugs before rap – I ain’t a true performer – had a room full of stones like Medusa saw us” [Ron Francis]
“Feel like everybody Owe – what’s your blood type?”
“I think I’m High Tech now because I pay the shooters in Bitcoin” [Ron Francis]
“Rumor has it I took a lick that’s where my [inaudible] died // in the car with 2 kids one Bart one Maggie size” [Holdin On]
Listen Between the Lines 📼⏮📼
This project will come for necks for years to come. The Rewind Factor cannot be undermined as damn near every track makes you run it back. His words are powerful, his style is polished and his delivery seals the deal. Strong speakers say just enough to cover the bulk of a subject and leave space for the listener to visualize/conceptualize the rest. Lyricists make you think about things they don’t say while making you focus on the multiple meanings they were able to pack into just one line.
Benny the Butcher’s Thank God I Made It Tour makes its last American stop in Hartford, CT this Sunday before heading overseas. There is also a stop in Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday for anyone on the East Coast who might be interested. Hell, Fuego Base might even hop on stage to perform some new tracks off of BSC. Love!
Base if you see this just know I felt it – I lost my mom to cancer too. One of the many reasons why this project hit so hard because I been trying to find ways to express that pain my whole life and you poured the pain out so tastefully on wax.
FreshNewsNow 