Oxnard, California veteran M.E.D. back for his 3rd solo LP. Known for being apart of the Crate Diggas with Wildchild & one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib alongside his younger brother Oh No & Declaime a.k.a. Dudley Perkins, he would eventually make his full-length debut in 2005 with Push Comes to Shove under Stones Throw Records & follow it up 6 years later with Classic. He has since dropped the Madlib-produced Bad Neighbor with Blu in addition to forming the trio LMD with Declaime & LMNO, so signing to Fat Beats Records for Believe & Never Grieve was huge considering the 15-year gap between that & Classic.
After the “On with the Show” intro, the opener “Tadaah” talking about shocking people the way he counting up his money because so many counted him out whereas “Passin’ Up” featuring J-Doe & Reason finds the trio soulfully linking up to flex finishing 1st instead of last. After the “Plot Twist” skit, “Strip Show” featuring Big Twins & Pok Dogg produced by Sndtrk talks about getting yours although Twins went the hardest of the 2 guests while “Elevation” featuring Blu reunites the pair over a Georgia Anne Muldrow instrumental.
“Enemy of the State” ends the 1st half on some groovier vibes & taking a more conscious approach in terms of subject matter leading into “Liquor Store” talking about trying to get there before it closes over a psychedelic Knxwledge beat. Another top 5 producer of mine The Alchemist gets behind the boards during the boom bap-tinged “Content” explaining that’s the only reason drop dime until “No Pressure” gets more romantic over a sultry Mike & Keys instrumental.
Madlib pulls out the 1st of 2 beats he has on Believe & Never Grieve during the trap-flavored “Ain’t Playing” talking about M.E.D. not fucking around while “The Cleaners” featuring Big Twins builds itself around the idea of fixers in organized crime. “Same Block” featuring ICECOLDBISHOP brings us 2 different generations of the 805 over the other Madlib instrumental I mentioned earlier & “Naturally” ends the album talking about not being held down.
In no way would I put Believe & Never Grieve in the same conversations as Push Comes to Shove & Classic regardless of the royalty/publishing issues M.E.D. has with Stones Throw, but I’d still consider it to be a worthy successor to the latter back when I was a freshman in high school exploring various different styles including boom bap, trap, pop rap & chipmunk soul for a half hour statement getting more personal personal than a lot of what we’ve heard from him since.
Score: 3.5/5
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