Slough, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Joker Starr making his Boot Records debut with his 7th studio LP. Dropping his debut mixtape Raw Spittage in 2011, he would go on to follow it up with all 6 of his previous full-lengths as well as 3 extended plays & a beat tape. My personal favorite being G.A.W.D. (God And Wisdom Driven) mostly produced by Micall Parknsun & of course Gawd Status’ debut Firmamentum. Both of which came out in 2019, conceiving Sidenote during the COVID-19 pandemic the next year.
“Same Old Flow” featuring Chima Anya finds the 2 joining forces to dismantle rappers who can’t switch shit up whereas “Don’t Try to Test” featuring Anyway tha God & produced by Micall Parknsun goes for a boom bap vibe talking about not being the ones to fuck with. “Stop Acting Like a Pussy” featuring Micall Parknsun turns up the aggressiveness flaming dudes for being spineless leading into “Let’s Be in Love” featuring Anyway tha God soulfully getting romantic.
Big Cakes appears on “Cold So Bold” to kick off the 2nd half spitting hardcore lyricism over a boom bap instrumental until “For the Legacy” & “Divine Blessings” both feature Anyway tha God over more Micall Parknsun instrumentals, talking about why they still make music & expressing their own gratitude. The raw yet lo-fi title track featuring Marv Won spends the final minutes of Sidenote calling out people for moving with their eyes closed.
Regardless of putting Boot Records in the same conversations as YNR Productions regarding both labels being around for decades yet neither of them have released a lot of music in recent years as opposed to High Focus Records or Blah Records constantly staying busy, Sidenote was more enjoyable than Gawd’s Children although I would’ve loved to hear a song where Joker Starr’s rapping by himself even if a majority of the guests are revered in their own fields.
Score: 4/5
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