Jalen Frazier – “Eye of the Beholder” review

Here is the 5th EP from Detroit, Michigan emcee Jalen Frazier. Getting his footing in during the fall of 2020 off the strength of his debut EP Expressions of the Neglected, he would continue to turn heads in the local underground scene last summer with the follow-up God Bless My Chalice. His debut album The Drop produced by Foul Mouth & Ethics of War produced by godBLESSbeatz elevated himself from both of its predecessors, aiming for a 3-peat with Eye of the Beholder produced by Machacha.

“The Luz” opens up with a somber boom bap instrumental trying to make a profit overnight & aiming guns at nosy muhfuckas whereas “Dolphins” soulfully talks about emptying clips on whole entire regimes. “Tale of the Streets”works in a guitar mixed with kicks & snares masterfully showing off his storytelling abilities for 111 seconds while “God Forbid” talks about needing a ticket to hear these thoughts.

J-Classic joins Jalen on the song “Duffel Bag Written” winding up the 2nd half of Eye of the Beholder with a crazy Crash Bandicoot reference in light of Netflix producing an upcoming animated series based on the iconic franchise while “Conflict Resolution” hooks up a reversed sample shouting out all his homies locked down behind prison walls. “Political Theater” featuring Isaac Castor finishes with both of them talking about there being 2 sides of America.

A tribute to those who carry the weight of being authentic in the world full of imitators & searching for meaning amongst the misunderstood, Jalen Frazier continues to put out some of the most essential material of his whole entire career throughout Eye of the Beholder continuing to improve above All Love Until It’s Not roughly 8 months ago. Machacha’s production is on par with The Most Interesting Man in the World’s & each verse feels like a testimony.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Jalen Frazier – “Ethics of War” review

Detroit, Michigan emcee Jalen Frazier linking with Lord Mobb Music in-house producer godBLESSbeatz for his 4th EP. Getting his footing in during the fall of 2020 off the strength of his debut EP Expressions of the Neglected, he would continue to turn heads in the local underground scene last summer with the follow-up God Bless My Chalice. His debut album The Drop produced by Foul Mouth elevated himself from both of it’s predecessors & 15 months later, the Ethics of War are being laid out.

“Just War Theory” ominously begins the EP finding himself back in his essence after dealing with some losses whereas “Collateral Damage” featuring J-Classic brings a soulful boom bap vibe to the table bodying anyone who wants to step up to them in a battle. “On a Mission” swaps out the vocal sampling in favor of pianos suggesting you weigh your options before committing a robbery while “Infrared Nightmares” admits to giving a fuck less about a conviction.

The song “King’s Blood” featuring Liym Capital kicks off the Ethics of War’s final leg with both of them teaming up so they can make a few dollars to pay off some fees leading into “Manipulated Thoughts” ruggedly talks about making sure every single thing that he does wasn’t in vain. “Old Stainless” caps off the EP with a hardcore boom bap joint explaining his motivation is the green presidents as if it’s life or death for him.

Some of the production on both I Hope Your Pistol Don’t Jam… & even All Love Until It’s Not wasn’t hitting for me like it was on The Drop last spring, but Ethics of War more than makes up for it matching that debut LP on all fronts. godBLESSbeatz’ gritty boom bap sound matched with Jalen’s street bars fit just as fluidly as it did when he linked with Foul over a year ago, once again saving only a couple guest performances so he can step up his own pen game a week before summer.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Jalen Frazier – “The Drop” review

This is the full-length debut studio LP from up-&-coming Detroit emcee Jalen Frazier. Getting his footing in during the fall of 2020 off the strength of his debut EP Expressions of the Neglected, he would continue to turn heads in the local underground scene last summer with the follow-up God Bless My Chalice. But for his first proper album, Middle Finger Music co-founder as well as one of the most in-demand producers that the Motor City has seen in recent memory Foul Mouth is being brought in for The Drop.

“Run In Packs” gets things rolling with this grimy ass boom bap instrumental & Jalen talking about talking about all he knows out here in Detroit is to attack whereas “Curbside Service” fuses vibraphones & boom bap drums detailing the street life. The groovy “Soul Check” asking for God to forgive him for the sinning that he’s been committing just before “Prince of a Brick” featuring Bizarre formerly of D12 was a dustily hardcore choice of a single detailing the savage lifestyles that they live.

Moving on from there, “Braille” has this drumless soul flip acknowledging that motherfuckers be moving funny and that they shouldn’t be getting it confused prior to “Profit $ee” featuring Chubs & Dango Forlaine bringing the trio together bringing back the kicks & snares so they can collectively get on their battle shit lyrically. The piano/boom bap hybrid “Sworn Enemy” looks to shed blood if you fuck with what he loves, but then the cloudy yet dusty “Effervescence” talks about being out here grinding.

“21 Grams” rawly looks to isolate himself so he can just chop it up with his conscious while “Choppin’ Block” lavishly talks about done, doing everything the shit y’all on. “Code of the Street” mixes a guitar with kicks & snares spittin’ real talk while “Murder” begins the encore of The Drop by bringing these strings, kicks & snares together rubbing it in your face that he & his crew have done mastered everything you’ve wanted to attempt out here. “Even Keel” wraps up the album on a rap rock note saying that this pussy done lost him the moment that he tried to test him.

I’ll just come out & say that Jalen’s voice kinda sounds like Westside Gunn’s a bit but once you get past that, he does have some dope bars & Foul Mouth helped bring the bus out of him on this album. It’s more well produced than what Jalen has done previously being more introspective & socially conscious than before touching on a vast range of topics from personal struggles & triumphs to commentary on the state of the world.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!