Tag: Flavor Unit

Chill Rob G – “Survival of the Better” review

Chill Rob G is a 62 year old MC from Jersey City, New Jersey who became notable for being a part of the Flavor Unit collective. His full-length debut Ride the Rhythm produced by the late 45 King would come out in 1989 under Wild Pitch Records & EMI Records, which would subsequently be followed up with the sophomore effort Black Gold & No Running. He also had C-Doc fully produce his SpitSLAM Records debut Empires Crumble in the spring of 2022 & here we are 50 months later picking up where the latter left off for Rob’s 4th album.

“Level Up Season” begins with this jazzy boom bap intro promising that shit won’t ever be even as long as Rob’s still alive whereas “Never Ready” featuring Copywrite finds the 2 linking up over a bass-line advising not to call yourself the best when you can’t prove it. “Ridiculous” featuring R.A. the Rugged Man & Sadat X brings the trio together to talk about sending wack rappers back to irrelevance while “I Am” reminds us all who he is over a jazzy drum & bass instrumental.

Treach joins Rob so both of them can let out some “Intrusive Thoughts” they’ve been having on top of a piano mixed with kicks & snares just before “Shots Fired” takes a funkier boom bap approach for some raw battle raps. “Let’s Go” featuring Chuck D hops over another bass guitar talking about trusting your instinct & actually think while “Higher Level” featuring Lakim Shabazz & Wise Intelligent continues the conscious lyricism hooking up a crooning beat behind them.

“G.T.F.O. (Get the Fuck Out)” winds down Survival of the Better’s last leg turning up the jazz rap influences for a message directed at those who might get it confused with him when they shouldn’t while “Dream Big” featuring Thrilla aka Shardcore brings back the funk encouraging their younger selves to listen to their hearts. The closing track “Choose Life” earned off the LP on a jazzier note talking about being motivated if anyone wants to achieve their goals like they say they do.

Empires Crumble to me was the most that I’ve enjoyed a Chill Rob G album since his debut, but Survival of the Better inserts itself in the middle right above it’s predecessor & behind Ride the Rhythm for a top 3 spot if I had to rank Rob’s discography. C-Doc’s production feels noticeably jazzier than Empires Crumble’s & the Flavor Unit member elevates his pen midway through this 5th act of his storied career alongside a murderer’s row of guests.

Score: 4/5

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Chip Fu – “The Beginning of the Reckoning” review

Brooklyn, New York veteran Chip Fu putting his debut solo EP up on all streaming platforms after making it exclusive to EVEN for a short period of time. A member of the Fu-Schnickens, he put out a solo mixtape of his own 15 years earlier called Stop Playing & the sequel roughly 32 months later. The Beginning of the Reckoning dropped exclusively on EVEN at the very beginning of the month, but has now become available on all streaming platforms regardless of whichever one you prefer to use.

After the intro, the first song “Me” produced by Blizzard opens with a soulful boom bap instrumental & Chip taking 113 seconds to kick his speedy flows into full gear whereas “Levels” keeps chopping up more vocal samples to talk about life being similar to that of an elevator. “Thousandz & Hundredz” finishes the EP with a boom bap/reggae crossover blending intricate rhyme schemes with a chopper flow.

Continuing to innovate & elevate hip hop over 3 decades deep into the game The Beginning of the Reckoning regardless of it’s brevity powerfully showcases Chip Fu’s lyrical mastery & depth in superior ways than either Stop Playing or Stop Playing 2 did making considerable improvements in the production department of things from those early tapes.

Score: 4/5

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