This is the sophomore effort from Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Res 1. A member of the Split Prophets collective, he would team up with Datkid & Upfront MC for the respective collaborative Scribbled Thoughts and Drugs, Booze & Dental Issues respectively before making his solo debut Delph Efficiency in the summer of 2015 after I had graduated from high school. 3 years later, Illinformed has been brought in to fully produce A Dog’s Dreams & had high hopes for it based off both singles.

Datkid appears for the piano-driven boom bap intro “Funky Bag” so both of them can warn everyone to mind their mouths when speaking of the Prophets whereas “Blue Label” featuring Inja goes for a jazzier vibe instrumentally talking about trying to find their way out of the mist they grew up in. “No Your Business” hooks up a more soulful beat explaining that he doesn’t need to know what these other muhfuckas are doing until “Vertigo” featuring Datkid, Joey Paro & Smellington Piff lays their individually rough textured styles over a vocal sample.

“For the Love” reaches the halfway point talking about doing this music shit out of the passion he has for it over a funky instrumental just before “Too Ill” featuring Badhabitz & Bil Next kicks off the 2nd leg boasting how lyrically proficient they over a symphonic boom bap beat. “People You Know” featuring Joey Paro jazzily talks about their city being filled with a whole bunch of characters while “Living in a Snare” breaks down the circle of life over an orchestrally dusty instrumental.

The song “Mr. Contemptious” rounds out 3rd aggressively likening himself as a cross between dynamite & an open fire prior to Leaf Dog & Verb T accompanying Res to talk about life still being what they each make of it in the middle of the walls “Closing In” on all 3 of them. “84” spends the last couple minutes of the album sampling a drumless funk loop explaining that people better study up on the history of every mysterious thing that went down at the house he’s describing.

Being a fan of what Illinformed’s work with some of the biggest underground UK hip hop labels from High Focus Records to Real Life Drama Records & Lost Scroll Records, A Dog’s Dreams gave me confidence that it would surpass Delph Effiency to become the greatest entry of his entire solo career & I can verify that’s very much the case. The production’s a huge step above its predecessor a few years earlier, there’s more consistency regarding the guests’ performances & Res levels up his pen.

Score: 4/5