Artist: Redrum
Album: The Messiah Complex
Tracklisting:
- Intro
- Hunger
- God’s Watchin
- Raze The Banner
- Chosen4War
- 6ft Under
- Rum N Coke
- Gladiator Sport
- Can’t Refuse
- Grime Rate
- Sinners
- Mark Of The Beast
Review:
So I have been promoting music from RedEye from the beginning, when he released projects such as Fatrick Ewing and St. Fatrick’s Day. He’s always been the consummate emcee and someone I’ve always checked for whether it be a guest spot or his own projects. Unfortunately, for a few years, those opportunities were few and far between until the first RedRum project he released with emcee, Racks, last year, entitled The Lucifer Effect. Admittedly, I had to go back and listen to that offering. And in my return to that I find it a more of a pre-cursor for what’s to come in this project. So let’s fast forward to the duos most recent offering here and we have something that I think it pretty damn special.
The Messiah Complex is gritty, dark, and pretty damn ominous if you ask me. These guys make the Bad Meets Evil projects look pretty pedestrian, as at some points I thought they were going to make a sacrificial offering midway through the album. It’s not quite horrorcore… though it does have a Gravediggaz-esque quality about it in some places, but it’s also something for the streets to put sidewalk chalk to.
The emcees assail from the very intro of the album, letting you know that you are in for a ride. And that audible ride is quite consistent. But where it really peaks is when long time collaborator, Nickel Plated gets in on these beats. That turns dope into tenacious. Just like RedEye, I am huge fan of Nickel Plated production. Check out how the RedEye delivers his wordplay over this banger.
High in the rafters / Cloud nine milli starts the rapture / Take no prisoners, ripped apart if you’re captured / The money and the fame…part that I am after / Hard as disaster / This is often the master / Grand wizardry wordplay…grand slam blaster / Turn the game on it’s head…hand stand faster / You’re garbage…acting like trash bags matter
From there you get another sequence of bangers in Chosen4war produced by BeatsByDee that uses a dope vocal sample and some thunderclap drums for the emcees to flip their dope sixteens over. 6ft Under then drops as a nice change of pace, actually produced by emcee Racks. It utilizes a little more synth while accompanying more of those hard hitting drums you start to get accustomed to throughout the album. But the chorus from D Ville serves as a nice break in the bars and makes this a really dope song.
But the song that will get you out of your seat is one of the shortest of the album. Gladiator Sport is THAT song. Damn. Da Superstarz laced something epic for Red Eye and Racks to spit over. They use a sample from the Russell Crowe movie, Gladiator, and then they just launch something operatically epic. The vocal sample sounds like Carl Orff and these guys are ready to go to war with any opponent. But along with this sensational production, it’s the duos change up and chemistry that shows out. Each emcee drops a quick set of bars deferring to the other. Check out this quick hitter from Racks.
I run up in your crib like Kramer / Generational player / My elevation is major / Your reputation in danger / You fucking flamer / You fucking with Darth Vader / From the Dark Side where they car jack your ride and your paper
On The Messiah Complex, what you are getting is a high talent and high energy project. And while it has that dark dimension, it is a complete album. It has production that knocks and a lyrical element that keeps the listener on his or her toes. I have long since known what RedEye is capable of on the mic, and he does not disappoint. Racks was an unknown quantity to me, but he delivers in a big way on this album and matches his partner verse for verse. And while the styles are distinctly different, the mesh is evident.
I rarely do reviews any more, so rest assured, this is a top choice album from 2021 and you need to pick it up!
Hip Hop Dependency 