Gawd Status is a duo from London, England, United Kingdom consisting of emcee Joker Starr alongside producer King Kashmere. Both of whom have musically been around since with mid-2000s, with Kashmere making his debut in late 2006 by dropping In the Hour of Chaos & Joker Starr putting out Blood-Ren roughly 5 & a half years later. Nonetheless, I was still intrigued to hear they’ve teamed up for a full-length debut together.
“Heavy Metal” opens up with a boom bap intro talking about lighting muhfuckas up with a firing squad & times being difficult whereas “Messiah Hybrid” goes for a jazzier vibe instrumentally talking about their bloodline not being up for questioning. “I’m an African” featuring Big Cakes & Micall Parknsun comes through speaking like kings & walking like lions leading into “Amplified Science” featuring Anyway tha God takes a more conscious approach lyrically.
Fae Simon predominantly appears on “The Alchemist” soulfully singing about wanting to show her partner how she purifies elements of nature while “Admiral Byrd” talks about people hiding behind science to fight God. The penultimate track “Uranium” hops over a beat with increasing intensity to discuss conspiracy theories & the closer “From Nibru with Love” finishes up with a compositional outro blending elements of boom bap & cloud rap.
I might have Strange U’s debut LP4080 above Firmamentum, but it’s still the most entertaining introduction Gawd Status could’ve possibly made. King Kashmere’s production is primarily hip hop-oriented with secondary influences of psychedelia & soul backing Joker Starr’s lyrics covering topics like madness, slavery, the rise of A.I., false Gods, the transmutation of matter & conspiracy theories ranging from flat Earth to aliens.
Score: 4/5
Legends Will Never Die 