Endangered Species 2020 Album

Papoose

The first two songs bang. The keys on 'Billionaire' give me a 'Still D.R.E.' feel. The verses on the next song, 'Boxcutter', are dope, as are the fast-moving keys, but the hook brings the song down a notch though. 'The Human Body' is like part three of the Alphabet and Numerical Slaughter series. This time, Papoose spits anatomical information. We will hear about the immune system on the next album - Karl Pilkinton will be happy! Shoutout to anyone who gets that joke. 'Maturity' is an enjoyable jazz-rap tune in a similar vein to 'Corba Scale' that uses Maya Angelo's poems/speech excerpts to break up the verses. Numerical Slaughter returns with part 2. While these are impressive, he begins by naming a heap of things for '10' but then it gets less extensive with each number. The album finishes with 'Tribute', that samples Tavares' 'Out of the Picture', that was also used on 'Many Men'. It's a song about people who have been killed and includes an anti-cop message. As a listener, I'm kind of over hearing about this. It's all we've seen in the media, even when I watch sport. I get it but as a topic, but I'm kind of over it unless it's done in a more creative manner. Ice Cube's 'Good Cop Bad Cop' is one example where it was. Papoose doesn't get enough respect as a rapper. Again, the beats aren't extraordinary from front to back, but on the whole, I think they are better than some of his previous projects and Papoose is still great to listen to rap. Along with the production not being amazing, the problem is probably just Papoose's ability to craft great hooks as well. 3-3.5/5 Best Tracks: Billionaire, Boxcutter, Antidote