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This album was released on October 30th last year. It’s one of those albums that I was planning on reviewing before the end of the year, but it kinda just slipped through the cracks. I remember there being a lot of hype surrounding this album, but Pro Era fans can be kinda… Uh… Dickriderish. They’re kinda like Odd Future fans. The main difference is that most of the members of Pro Era are way better than anyone in Odd Future aside from Earl & Tyler. I guess we can throw Frank Ocean in there too even though people don’t really think of him as an OF member. Anyway, nobody really talks about Kirk Knight anymore. I mean, obviously the Kirk Knight fans still say that he’s dope, but nobody mentions him in conversations about dope new school rappers. I guess that could be said about everyone in Pro Era aside from Joey Bada$$ tho, so I don’t know. Anyway, I’m not expecting to be blown away by anything on this album, but I’m sure a lot of it’ll be good. Every track is self produced.

Track 1: Start Running

This beat is dope af. The hook is really simplistic, but it works. The first verse was pretty good. Nothing he said was super amazing or anything, but I still enjoyed it personally. He probably shouldn’t sing like this anymore… Well, actually… I mean, he’s not singing well at all, but it doesn’t really take anything away from the track for me. I don’t really mind it. I just hope he doesn’t try to sing hooks on a lot of the other songs. I enjoyed this track. I’m obviously not blown away or anything, but I still think this is an above average song personally. The beat was great, and the verse was pretty good too. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 2: Heaven Is For Real Feat. T’nah Apex

Damn. This beat is dope af. T’nah Apex just did the intro. She sounded really dope tho. I like her voice a lot. The hook is cool. The first verse wasn’t bad. I definitely prefer Kirk Knight as a producer than as an MC. He’s not bad at rapping tho. He’s just not that great. He’s tolerable. The second verse was cool. T’nah Apex sounded awesome on that outro. To be honest she kinda stole the show… The verses weren’t bad; they just don’t stand out that much. I still enjoyed the song. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 3: Brokeland

This beat is dope af. I love the dusty percussion. This is so fuckin’ East Coast. The first verse was dope. It wasn’t anything special lyrically, but his high energy delivery and flow keep it entertaining. The hook is dope af. Goddamn. This is crazy. This is the most East Coast shit I’ve heard in a long ass time. “GO BROOKLYN, GO BROOKLYN, GO BROOKLYN.” This song is fucking awesome. Again, it’s not that impressive lyrically, but it’s an entertaining track. I really enjoyed this one. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 4: 5 Minutes Feat. Joey Bada$$

This beat is dope af. Man… Kirk Knight is a REALLY dope producer. These beats have all been awesome so far. The first verse from Kirk Knight was cool. The hook isn’t bad. Joey’s verse was dope. I loved his rough delivery, but aside from that it didn’t really stand out that much to be honest. The song just ended. It’s dope. It’s just another good song. I’m assuming this whole album is just gonna be more of the same old school sound that Pro Era is known for. That’s cool. I like that sound. I think it would help keep things interesting if Kirk Knight switched things up a bit more in terms of the way the songs are structured, but if he doesn’t I know I’ll still enjoy his shit to an extent. Anyway, I fuck with this song. It’s dope. 4/5

Track 5: Knight Time

This song starts off with almost the exact same pattern of percussion as Suger Cane by T.I., but that’s neither here nor there. I don’t know how I feel about this hook. It seems like it’s a bit underwritten. I know that’s kinda weird to say for a hook, but he’s just repeating “What the fuck you know about the Knight time?” over and over again. You can tell that there wasn’t a lot of thought put into it. It’s so fucking hot in my room. It’s ’cause I have this Mac on my lap. This beat is dope af. Okay, I guess I was trippin’ when I said that this whole album would have that signature old school aesthetic. There’s nothing old school about this song. It’s kinda like how Nyck Caution had those really energetic tracks like Basin and Crucifix on Disguise The Limit. This is really fucking dope. I just wish the hook was better. The verses aren’t too crazy lyrically, but Kirk Knight does a good job of keeping things interesting with an energetic delivery and flow. I fuck with this song. The hook definitely takes away from it for me, but the beat and Kirk’s flow keep it from being wack. This is really dope. 4/5

Track 6: One Knight Feat. theMIND (Co-Prod. THEMpeople)

theMIND is singing on the intro right now, and he sounds fucking great. Whenever this guy is featured on a song he always ends up doing a great job. I should check some of his solo stuff. Anyway, the fuckin’ PRODUCTION? It’s fucking bananas. I swear every beat on this album has been phenomenal so far. I’m only a minute into this song, and I can already tell y’all that this is my favorite song on the album so far. This is fucking awesome. I mean, this isn’t my kinda song in terms of the subject matter, but sonically this song is amazing. How was this not a hit song? You know how Interscope made ScHoolboy Q make that wack ass song for the radio? What was that bullshit called? Overtime? Overnight? I don’t know. This song here sounds like it was made for the same audience. The only difference is this song is actually dope sonically. It’s also more subtle lyrically. Um… Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little earlier when I said this song was “amazing” and that it was my favorite song on the album so far. I mean, I still really like it, but the lyrics and subject matter definitely kinda hold it back for me. He’s rapping about having a “one knight stand.” The hook isn’t that great either. That stuff doesn’t completely ruin the song for me tho. I can still fuck with this sonically. Kirk’s flow was really dope, and that beat is fantastic. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 7: Scorpio

This is easily the wackest beat on the album so far. It’s not that bad, but… I don’t know. It’s just kinda underwhelming. It’s really repetitive. It gets annoying pretty quickly. The subject matter isn’t for me. I wasn’t feelin’ the first verse. His flow was kinda cool, but aside from that… Nah. This hook is wack. The song just ended. Kirk’s flow was pretty much the only thing that I liked about this song. I’m not feelin’ this one. It’s wack to me. 2/5

Track 8: Down

This beat is kinda cool. I’m not feelin’ this hook tho. Remember when I said that I was hoping that he wouldn’t sing a lot of the hooks on this album? Well… He’s singing a lot of the hooks on this album… The track has a really slow start. The first verse doesn’t start until after a minute. The hook is really long winded. There’s only one verse. It wasn’t that good… I pretty much feel the same way about this song that I did about the previous track. Kirk’s flow was nice, but aside from that, and maybe the beat to an extent, this song isn’t for me. I’m not feelin’ this one. It’s wack. 2/5

Track 9: I Know Feat. Mick Jenkins

This beat is dope af. Mick’s on the first verse. He fuckin’ snapped on this shit. That was great. The hook is pretty dope too. I even think Kirk Knight’s verse was really dope. HIs flow was dope af on this shit. This is definitely one of the best tracks on the album. I really don’t have any problems with this track. Everything about this song is really good to me. I fuck with this one. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 10: Dead Friends Feat. Noname & Thundercat (Co-Prod. Thundercat)

This beat is dope af. The hook’s alright. Kirk’s vocals are really flat, but it could be worse. Kirk’s flow on this first verse is fantastic. He actually killed that shit. I really liked that first verse. Noname killed her verse too. The hook kinda sucks. It doesn’t ruin the track tho. Also… I mean, y’all know me; I wasn’t feelin’ that electric guitar solo from Thundercat towards the end of this track. I can still recognize the technical skill behind it. It was very well done. I just didn’t really enjoy it personally. I fuck with the song tho. It’s got a few flaws, but for the most part this is dope to me. 4/5

Track 11: The Future Feat. theMIND (Co-Prod. THEMpeople)

theMIND sounds great at the beginning of this track. Again, the production is top notch. theMIND’s hook is dope af. The first verse from Kirk was nice. I love the way he ended that second verse too. His delivery got so aggressive that he was running out of breath and his voice was beginning to crack. It sounded really dope. Wow. This is actually kinda amazing. Lol. Everything about this song is just really… I don’t know. You can tell there was a lot of time and effort put into this track. I loved Kirk’s passionate delivery. This is another one of the best songs on the album. I definitely fuck with this track. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 12: All For Nothing

This beat is dope af. The first verse was nice. The hook is nothing special, but it’s not bad. The second verse was really good. Kirk Knight actually has a really good flow. He’s not the greatest lyricist, and his voice isn’t that distinct, but it’s at least entertaining to hear him rhyme over a beat. I fuck with this song. It has a really simple structure, so there’s not really much to say. It’s just two dope verses over a great beat. The hook didn’t really do much for me, but that’s not really that big of a problem. This is dope to me. 4/5

Final Thoughts:

This is actually a really good album. I don’t really know why I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I knew it was gonna be good, but not this good. I fuck with Kirk Knight, man. My only concern is that he doesn’t really have what it takes to set himself apart from the rest of Pro Era. I don’t know if a dope flow and great beats are enough. That’s not really something I need to worry about tho. All I know is that I really enjoyed this album personally. The production was fucking immaculate. I always thought Kirk Knight was a pretty good producer, but I don’t remember his beats being on this level. Maybe he was saving his best shit for himself. I don’t know. I don’t really think that this album has any glaring issues. Again, Kirk Knight isn’t the greatest lyricist, but I’d still say that he’s slightly above average. His flow is really what keeps me interested personally. So yeah. This is a very dope album. I fuck with this shit.

Favorite Song: The Future

Least Favorite Song: Scorpio

Verdict:

78%

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