Tag: Fly Anakin

Fly Anakin – “(The) Forever Dream” review

This is the sophomore effort from Richmond, Virginia emcee Fly Anakin. Starting out roughly a decade ago, he first caught my attention in 2018 after being featured on Ankhlejohn’s magnum opus Van Ghost & started to gain even more exposure when he & Pink Siifu dropped their collaborative effort FlySiifu’s. His full-length debut studio album Frank that celebrated it’s 3-year anniversary last month was a great way of him honoring his father & is coming back to address  (The) Forever Dream.

“Good Clothes” starts by talking about getting his mind right around the time of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 & not needing to ask for forgiveness since he’s been taking what’s his whereas “Teen Summit” strips the drums thanks to Quelle Chris so he can try to build before going back. “My N***a” featuring Big Kahuna O.G. & $ilkMoney samples “Awaking of Our Senses” by Argo for a dedication to brotherhood while “Lil One” addresses an individual who wants something when he already owes something.

Lojii appears with Fly Anakin on the drumless chipmunk soul track “Check on Me” produced by August Fanon asking for their romantic interests to check & see how both of them are doing just before “Not Too Shabby” featuring Nickelus F, Quelle Chris & $ilkMoney brings the quartet together to talk about being closer to their dreams. “Lord Forgives, I Hold Grudges” featuring Denmark Vessey & Pink Siifu is pretty much their way of saying “god forgives, I don’t” leading into the string-laced “The Times” talks about his squad having most of their heads screwed on.

“Forever Dream” takes the drums out of the equation again painting a picture as if he’s Vincent Van Gogh while “Corner Pocket” featuring BBYMutha produced by The Alchemist gives a shoutout to themselves since they got money on the way. “YOUGOTME!!” after the “Dr. Phil” skit discusses being heartbroken after giving this woman everything & after the “Foreverever Dream” interlude, the soulful closer ”Say Thank You” featuring Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy ends by poignantly giving thanks to God.

Some of the most experimentally ambitious material of Fly Anakin’s career winds up on (The) Forever Dream bringing together a collection of bright, diverse & downright gorgeous underground hop hop hip hop that’s so light-on-its-feet to the point where it can sometimes feel like it’s sweeping you off yours. I prefer the production here a little more than Frank because of the way utilizes relentlessly sunny & imaginative instrumental flourishes tilting its tracks from laid-back to cocksure to thoughtful with the elegance of a well-executed magic trick.

Score: 3.5/5

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Fly Anakin – “Frank” review

Fly Anakin is a 27 year old MC from Richmond, Virginia who’s been making music for nearly a decade at this point. However, he first caught my attention in 2018 after being featured on Ankhlejohn’s magnum opus Van Ghost. & started to gain even more exposure a little over a year ago when he & Pink Siifu dropped their collab album FlySiifu’s. But coming fresh off some promising singles that Fly Anakin has putting out for the last few months, it was all leading up to his full-length debut album over here.

“Love Song (Come Back)” is a string-laced opener getting in his romance bag whereas the soulful “Dontbeafraid” with Henny L.O. finds the 2 talking about entitled cats setting the game back. “Sean Price” comes through with a lavish tribute to the fallen Boot Camp soldier of the same name with the help of Evidence behind the boards leading into the appropriately titled “Underdog Theme”.

After the “Kenneth Cole Collections” skit, “WaxPoetic” comes through with a drumless acoustic loop talking about being a suburban dude now leading into Pink Siifu tagging along for the boom bap-tinged “Black Be the Source” talking about building & destroying. Nickelus F comes into the picture for the dreary “Ghost” getting in their hardcore shit, but then “Class Clown” returns to soul territory acknowledging that the only capping he does is shrooms.

After the “Bread” skit, “No Dough” talks about not doing shit for free anymore over a groovy Madlib instrumental while the orchestral “Grammy Snubnose” warns not to let him see his people switch. “Bad Business (Killswitch)” weaves in a moody boom bap beat dissing MCs who be moving backwards while “Poisonous Primates” goes into funkier turf talking about killing his ego.

After the “Fly Away” skit, the penultimate track “Telepathic” with Big Kahuna Og finds the 2 tossing the mic back & forth with each other pretty well over a cloud backdrop & “Bag Man” returns with some angelic background vocals talking about how it don’t take much to be the man in the climate that hip hop’s in today.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this dude in the last few years & I can definitely hear why after listening this album. It’s touching that he flipped so many soul records in honor of father & even lyrically, there are points where he’s getting a lot more personal than he did on his previous efforts.

Score: 3.5/5