Individually, and collectively, Apollo Brown and Joell Ortiz have made names for themselves by remaining consistent and authentic, as well as committed to the Hip Hop culture in all its incarnations. Not ones to follow trends or ham it up for the camera and get blog time, Brown and Ortiz prefer to build it and let the real fans come.
And so it is on Mona Lisa, a collection of 12 neatly-produced tracks that are heavy on solid lyricism and wordplay and light on features (only Ortiz’s Slaughterhouse compadres KXNG CROOKED and Royce da 5’9, and DJ Los make cameos).
Standout tracks on the album include “Decisions,” the eighth track, which has Ortiz pondering the eternal question of “the studio or the streets?” as he rhymes, “Decisions, decisions are sick in the kitchen/Rhyme flex or Pyrex, shit, which is your vision?/Hit the block or book a studio block/Push all the rock or push yourself to rock a number one spot, hmm/Hit ’em with that bounce and find a nice pocket/Or stash another 8-ball in your side pocket.”
It echoes a sentiment that Ortiz — and Kool G Rap before him — mentioned several times before: you can either be a gangster, or a rapper, but not both. And while Ortiz, clearly, chose the studio life over the street life, he mentioned that these were the thoughts running through his head at the time he reached that life-changing crossroads.
There’s no Auto-Tune — there’s no mumble rap — and there’s no posing and posturing. Brown and Ortiz are authentically who they are on this album, but even veterans can grow within their realms. And the fact that Brown calls himself a “revolver, not an evolver” works against the duo from time to time.
It’s precisely what you expect from the longtime producer and the veteran MC — and it’s the album’s blessing and the curse. Which in turn, doesn’t make for the most ambitious effort in today’s rap space.
Ortiz’s status as a true MC comes in part from his consistency, and the rest of the album has similar “studio or streets” themes complemented by tales of coming up in the Old New York. “Reflections,” for example, makes a reference to “four chicken wings and pork fried rice,” which is the standard Old New York order from the corner Chinese food shop. But while it’s a nice touch, and a good callback to those of us who remember a time prior to the “Disney-fication” of the City That Never Sleeps, nostalgia and tradition alone does not make a classic album.
Mona Lisa‘s durability, however, is attributed to how well Ortiz’s classic-style spit blends seamlessly with Brown’s aforementioned “revolver, not evolver” beats. Brown’s style recalls a time when music was really delivered “on wax,” and as a result, the songs seamlessly blend into one another, with no hiccups in between. Brown is a technical beast on the boards, and it shows.
It may be popular to dismiss 90s sounding Hip Hop as being “oldhead” music, or music that doesn’t resonate with a younger generation. But given the parlous state of modern Hip Hop in the form of “mumble rap,” Ortiz and Brown’s Mona Lisa may, in time, prove to be ahead of its time — even if that time is not right now.
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4.1? These guys are clowns..
listened today, dope project for sure.. one of Joell’s best projects in a while. Very refreshing to hear him drop something, and he sounds great over Apollo’s soulful beats. Not necessarily a full on 5 but definitely better than a 4.
Great album.This along with the new Ghost joint got me loving hip hop again.Peace!
4.1? Straight buggin with that rating!
Whole shit bangs. Get willie the kid on the next one.
I’d give it at least a 4.5 Easily one of the top 5 releases of this year. Apollo Brown as always comes through with the production and Joell sounds really good over his beats.
There’s so many emcees I’d like to hear rhyme over Apollo’s beats. I’d like to hear the likes of Elzhi, Inspectah Deck, Reks, etc. A Blasphemy 2 with Ras Kass. Would be nice.
Today, I was blessed by Allah and the Gay Profit Muhammed to wake up with a large Negro penis. I had been praying for this for years, even fasting at Ramadan so my schlonger would grow to the length and girth of a well endowed Negro. I was understandably overjoyed when I woke up and found this especially large brown sausage between my legs, but for every Ying there must be a Yang, and while my penis is now the length of a large Negroid schlonger donger, I am shocked to also find that my bank account is empty, my fridge is full of nothing but fried chicken, watermelon slices, and malt liquor, I have nothing but a maxed out EBT card in my wallet, I have five baby mamas and seven wild black “bebe kids” rioting in my home, I have a criminal record about a mile long, and my skin has turned a dark shade of brown roughly the hue of three day old poopie!!! HELP!!!
Masterpiece from start to finish. Apollo Brown and Joell Ortiz were a perfect match.
absolutely incredible
Joell ortis is so underrated
Treat of an album
Incredible!
Today, I was blessed by Allah and the Gay Profit Muhammed to wake up with a large Negro penis. I had been praying for this for years, even fasting at Ramadan so my schlonger would grow to the length and girth of a well endowed Negro. I was understandably overjoyed when I woke up and found this especially large brown sausage between my legs, but for every Ying there must be a Yang, and while my penis was now the length of a large Negroid schlonger donger, I was shocked to also find that my bank account was empty, my fridge was full of nothing but fried chicken, watermelon slices, and malt liquor, I had nothing but a maxed out EBT card in my wallet, I had five baby mamas and seven wild black “bebe kids” rioting in my home, I had a criminal record about a mile long, and my skin had turned a dark shade of brown roughly the hue of three day old poopie!!! HELP!!!
Wow
last of a dying breed
To give this the same score as that trash album by lil Wayne is a hip hop disgrace.
One of my favorite album this year… What a great album.
Strong album. No over the top record on it…but a good album. If you are not into bar heavy bust ya sh1t open lyrics, then this album ain’t for you.
Solid. I wasn’t too impressed with Apollo Browns production compared to some of his other projects this year. Still a good album
Straight fire
Yo Joell’s best album. I gotta give it a 5
this is great hip hop
Joell Ortiz is a beast! The boom bap is coming back!
with an axe to mumble rap!
Solid
Been banging this non-stop since it dropped with no end in sight. Perhaps, not Joell’s best rhymes, because of intermittent repeat wording rhyme schemes; but, definitely very consistent inflective storylines. IMO, this is Apollo Brown’s best collabo to date. Joell rhyme’s melt effortlessly over all of the tracks like butter on biscuit. Good to see Joell come back home and get back on track after a very unsteady House Slippers. (Ironically, on this album Joell talks about not being measured as a pop artist, when that’s exactly what he/his team attempted on House Slipper.) Welcome back to Brooklyn bruv. Outstanding album at a critical time in your career. 4.5/5
MAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is why I was a Slaughterhouse guy! Joell beasting everything he touch dude!
1/5