Tag: Illitamin G

Vitamin G – “Prophet of Doom” review

Here we have the official solo debut album from London, England, United Kingdom emcee Vitamin G. Known for being 1/3 of CMPND alongside Kemastry & Wundrop, he would also comprise 1/2 of the duo Illitamin G with Illiterate & made their debut in the spring of 2019. Establishing himself as an MC of his own in February a couple years later with the Isolean in Quarentation extended play, I was more interested in the fact Mr. Slipz was fully producing Prophet of Doom under High Focus Records.

After the “Wid the Snippets” intro, the title track comes out swinging with a gully boom bap instrumental talking about being an unstoppable force whereas “High Scores” works in a Middle Eastern sample advising to stay conditioned since the place he’s at can make that kind of switch if they wanted to. “Hailstorm” has a cloudier boom bap vibe flexing he only puts his hands together when he sneezes or beatboxes while “5th Dimension” featuring Pique Roscoe joins forces for a decent hardcore hip hop track.

“Never Lost It” brings a somber boom bap vibe to the table talking about how he hasn’t lost a step unless his head’s gone enraged just before the downtrodden “Vulnerable Youngens” featuring Kieran dedicates itself to all the children in the world having it rough in life. “From the Drop” reaches Prophet of Doom’s halfway point talking about making this shit look easy while “Bleeding the Steeze” kicks off the 2nd act dustily boasts he’ll get on the grind despite not being a skater.

Bil Next joins G on “Boiling Point” instrumentally keeping things in the basement & talking about them fitting the description of fulfilling a quota while “Shelly Ann” featuring Tommy Mila & Wates after the “Get to the Shubz” skit brings the trio together to discuss repping their brands. Farma G & Jehst both drop some of my favorite guest verses during “The Internet”, where they talk about being fine where they are presently because they each have everything they need.

“Struggling to Swim” begins Prophet of Doom’s last let coming to terms with everything being what it is whether some pissing in the wind & others sinking into an abyss while the cavernously raw “Not Speaking” talking about being in the corner without saying a word. Possi’o” featuring Axel Holy, Sk!nt, Shogun & Verbz brings the quintet together staying the same as they were when everyone was younger while “The End” concludes by talking about his flammable penmanship.

This guy’s multi-syllable rhyme schemes have always been a distinctive attribute to the warm feedback both of CMPND’s full-lengths received, but I unfortunately found myself a little torn with the Prophet of Doom’s outcome especially considering all 4 singles were highly enjoyable. There are absolutely no issues with Mr. Slipz’ production & the same can be said regarding Vitamin G’s lyrics, I just feel like they went harder with the guests than they should’ve rounding up almost a dozen of them throughout his inaugural LP.

Score: 3/5

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Illitamin G – Self-Titled review

Illitamin G is an MC/producer duo from the United Kingdom consisting of Bristol, England lo-fi hip hop producer Illiterate alongside London emcee Vitamin G. The latter of whom has been on the come-up making some standout 2018 guest appearances, following the other’s beat placement on Bisk from the Cult of the Damned’s sophomore effort XXXX the preceding year. So being familiar with both of them for some time already, I was already intrigued by what this eponymous full-length studio debut under the Brighton, East Sussex imprint Yogocop Records had in store for each half of the pairing.

“Gone Wrong O’Clock” opens up with a boom bap instrumental containing a vocal sample & some pianos coming out the gate with a reference to the Paramount Skydance Corporation subsidiary MTV-owned jackass franchise’s de facto leader Johnny Knoxville whereas “Protoza” featuring Cutta Chase links up over a lo-fi beat dropping verses with no hook, with Vitamin G’s rhyme schemes going harder & sticking out the most across both songs.

Continuing from there: “Landing” talks about still being here in the stratosphere just before “The Juice” shifts towards a sleepier lo-fi vibe to reach the midway point discussing fools commonly possessing the inability to maintain a loyal soul. “Tried So Hard” kicks off the 2nd half with a sound reminiscent to the late, great J Dilla talking about him still putting in the effort to make it while the breezy “Everybody” featuring CW Jones & Nuphzed boasting of no one fucking with them.

“All the Time” gets back to the sampling techniques finding himself unable to get somebody off his mind while “Oscilate” combines elements of lo-fi hip hop & boom bap addressing an individual moving like a goon possibly losing their place as a repercussion. “Posted” featuring Wundrop finds both members of CMPND joining forces so they can spend 120 seconds dropping hardcore penmanship & the closer “We Did It” spends the remaining minutes of the album getting celebratory.

Almost a month after it was announced that CMPND had signed to one of the UK hip hop scene’s most prolific independent labels High Focus Records, it makes sense why Illiterate decided to do a whole LP with Vitamin G when it’s been revealed he lended a couch for the latter to sleep on the preceding summer. His multisyllabic lyrics was part of what drew me into the trio’s debut single “Whatuplayin@” & that matched with Illiterate’s lo-fi production makes me hope Illitamin G’s paths will cross again for a follow-up when the time’s right.

Score: 4/5