In front of us is the 4th studio LP from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Hardrock. Getting his start over 2 years ago off his debut EP Y.N.S. (Young N***a Shit), he would continue to build up anticipation by delivering 6 more EPs ahead of the commercial debut LP Next! & the breakout sophomore effort 808 Speaker Knockerz. The latter of which contains some of his best tracks to date like “H.Y.L.M.N.? (How You Like Me Now)”, “Madonna”, “New WRLD” & “Luigi Mansion”. The last album 1of1 matched the caliber of it’s predecessor & Slimyfella has finally arrived following the prelude My Gift to You immediately after signing to Victor Victor Worldwide/Republic Records.
“New Level” hops on top of a rage beat out the gate to talk about bossing up tremendously in the 14 months since we’ve last heard from him whereas “Watch Out” pulls from hypertrap once more talking about pullin’ up with them killas. “Biggest Soldier” produced by Devstacks proved to be the most reasonable choice as the sole single during the rollout to drum up anticipation hooking up these synthesizers & hi-hats to throw opps in the wild leading into “Slide” flexing about the body he just caught on camera.
Meanwhile on “Get Go”, we have Hardrock airing out the people who’ve been plotting on him from the very beginning while “Blood Sweat Tears” turns the bass up extremely high to talk about being timeless & putting his all into this music shit unlike those who ain’t making it out the hood. “They Know” shows a hypertrap influence again promising to live by the code & die by it maintaining the roll he’s been on unbeknownst to others prior to “Gimmie Dat” going for a plugg direction to talk about knowing people who want the whole loaf of bread.
“Disgusting” show off how filthy his pockets have been in the past few years with another plugg instrumental making it’s way to the fold while “Hot” ends the first half of Slimyfella working his thumbs by twisting his fingers counting his bands. “Mr. Spendalot” kicks off the 2nd leg of the LP with some peppy synthesizers talking about being the type to blow a bag until “Bloody Seats” references the late CFFC fighter Kimbo Slice who briefly fought in the UFC during the hook.
Nosaint & Toom of Vanguard Music Group help turn the rage back up in full effect during the standout “De La Cruz” smoking big blunts because he ain’t a rookie, but then “Solid” keeps it rollin’ by waking up & getting right to it. “Familia” kinda has this quirky trap edge to it declaring the squad as his real family in addition to asking for his pedigree to be checked while “Heaven (007)” hazily compares himself to James Bond.
“Koko” bombastically pushes forward boasting about his lifestyle while “No Time” with Y3rip & n9ck cloudily looks get the bags poppin’ the second he gets up. “Slime Stroll” gives regalia a shot doing what he does since he’s a boss acknowledging everyone out in the streets speaking cocky on him & “Cold Stare” caps it off with a synth-driven trap closer talking about not going anywhere without his finger on the trigger.
Catching on to him right when he started blowing up a few summers ago, it pains me to say that I found myself liking Slimyfella less than his last couple projects & it could be the most divisive offering in his discography. Although I love that he got Vanguard to oversee it & the engineering has improved greatly compared to his earlier material, it feels like it runs a little longer than it should’ve been.
Score: 3/5
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