This album was released on April 11th this year. This’ll be my first time listening to a project from Chavis Chandler. I’ve never even heard a song by him. I’ve only ever heard features from him on songs by Royce da 5’9″ & Nolan the Ninja. As you may have guessed from the two artists I just mentioned him working with, he’s another Detroit rapper. Since I’m not that familiar with his work, I don’t have any idea of how I’m gonna feel about this project, or what it’ll sound like. I’ve enjoyed the features I’ve heard from him in the past though, so hopefully this is dope.

1. Jungle produced by Ethics Gallardo

Wow. After listening to the first 20 seconds of this song, I literally said “ohhhh shhhhhhhhhhhiit” out loud. The beat is fantastic, and this actually sounds a lot like a Kendrick Lamar song to me.

I was a newborn when them niggas shot at my uncle Elmo and he lost his kidney
Imagine how my sister felt in the closet, bullets missed me
Fuck you know about pain & darkness? I was born in it
And to make it out this bitch I scrap with all of y’all niggas

Just based off the first quatrain alone, I think I’m in for a treat. This is great. I like the reference to Grandmaster Flash’s the Message in the hook. I don’t know why, but I just wasn’t expecting to hear something so personal and introspective, especially on the opening track. I feel like it’s been forever since I heard someone rap like this.

Thinkin’ ’bout my daughter; I ain’t seen her in almost a year, these are the breaks
I don’t get that relationship ‘less they get half of my pay
And nigga know he ain’t a deadbeat, but it got to my brain
Fuck you think I’m wakin’ up for with the alcohol shakes?

This is a REALLY great first impression. I didn’t think this would be wack, but I wasn’t expecting to be this impressed. I love this track. The only nitpick I have is that the verses are kinda short. I would’ve liked if he went in a little longer. The song is really great as it is though. I think this shit is dope af.

2. Love & Gangsta Shit produced by Orlando Wade

Oh fuckin’ shit. This beat is really dope, and I love how aggressive Chavis’ delivery is. This is the aggression I was missing from Nolan the Ninja’s latest record. He’s got some really nice lines in this verse too.

Cut off oncoming traffic; mug like we got the right
Pack a extra cartridge this just might be your final fight

He’s fuckin’ rappin’ his ass off on this shit. Goddamn. I’m so glad I decided to check this album out because this shit is awesome so far. There’s really only one verse on this track, followed by an outro. The song’s just over a minute and a half. It doesn’t feel incomplete at all though. I love this song. The beat was cool, and Chavis killed it. This shit is dope af.

3. El Torro Bravo produced by Earl Bates

This is the longest song on the album at three minutes and forty seconds. Goddamn. The beat is really dope, and Chavis’ flow on this first verse is fantastic. He killed that shit. I really like the hook too. Man… This is definitely the best song on the album so far. I love everything about this shit. His fucking flow, man… This shit is absolute fire.

I’ma murder every single one
Strongest man alive; when I do pushups, push the planet further from the fuckin’ sun
I made some bread off of fuckin’ crumbs
I had to turn a jump to a lunge
I had to get the fuck off my ass and had to really go out and get it done

This is so fucking good. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this one. Well, I wish there was a music video for it, but that’s not really a real issue with the music itself. Anyway, this song is amazing. I love it. It’s dope af.

4. FBHM produced by Heizenburr

This song has another great beat. Chavis is rapping about black history month.

Fuck black history month
Why should I celebrate everything that was taken from us?
Celebrate my ancestors’ genocide, fuckin’ me up
Soon as they see niggas goin’ places, blow up the bus

I don’t personally agree with the way he views black history month, but it’s not really something I have an issue with. I don’t see the month as a celebration of black pain, but at the same time I never really feel like I get much out of it. Maybe other black people feel like black history month is really important, but once I finished elementary school it didn’t really stand out from any other month to me. Anyway, I love the song. Even though I don’t necessarily view black history month the same way that he does, I see where he’s coming from. Also, I should mention that the music video was really great. It really enhanced the actual song for me, so I’m glad I saw that. This shit is dope af.

5. Pihrannas produced by Orlando Wade

Goddamn. The production on this album is really strong. This is the most melodic instrumental on the album so far, and I think that’s Chavis singing over it on the intro. That must be him because there aren’t any features listed. His singing on the hook is pretty good. It’s not the best singing I’ve ever heard, but it works. He actually sings the entire song, which I’m okay with. I definitely would’ve preferred if he rapped the verse, but I still enjoyed the song. I’m not exactly sure why this song is called Pihrannas or why he misspelled piranhas. It seemed like he was just singing about trying to become successful and put on for his city.

If I would’ve left it up to y’all, they wanna see me fall
They won’t never see me make it where I’m at
I told these niggas they don’t want it all, I came up with the sauce
And I gotta put the city on the map
All my niggas, they fell off and took a loss, came back and got it all
This is for my real niggas, where you at?

This definitely isn’t as amazing as the other tracks I’ve heard so far to me, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I love the beat, and Chavis’ singing wasn’t bad at all. This shit is dope.

6. Shinin’ produced by B. Jones & Royce da 5’9″

It’s interesting that Royce is starting to produce more music. That self produced single he dropped earlier this year called Field Negro was great. Anyway, this beat is incredible. This is definitely the best beat on the album so far. I wonder how much Royce actually contributed to this beat because this is not the quality I would expect from him as a producer. Not that I think he’d make trash beats. I just wouldn’t expect something this amazing from him. This is one of the best beats I’ve heard all year. Ohhhh FUCK… This nigga is spazzing on this first verse. He murdered that shit. This shit is amazing. I even like the way he switched to an autotuned delivery for the hook and the beginning of the second verse. This shit is hard as hell. Man… WHY did he not make a video for this track? That needs to happen as soon as possible because this shit is absolute fire. I love it. This shit is dope af.

7. I Want It All featuring Supakaine produced by Orlando Wade

The beat on this track is pretty dope. Chavis’ singing on the hook isn’t bad. It gets the job done. The subject matter isn’t very original, but I think he’s doing a really good job with it.

Never had money, I forged signatures for field trips
Every black king that made it out the struggle off his vision gotta feel this
Alcoholic by blood, but we still sip

That line about alcoholism is relatable as hell for me. His verse is really dope. The background vocals sounded really great. I’m not familiar with this Supakaine guy. He kinda sounds like Meek Mill. He’s not yelling as much though. His verse was pretty good. I’m satisfied with his feature. Anyway, as a whole this track definitely didn’t impress me as much as the others, but I still enjoyed it. Nothing about it is particularly bad. The beat’s dope, both of the verses were good, and the hook is fine. This shit is dope to me.

8. Broke Niggas produced by Young Roc

This beat is really dope. It’s kinda airy, but it has Trap percussion. It’s got a nice vocal sample as well. It almost sounds like something Lucki would rap over. The only difference is Chavis Chandler isn’t fucking terrible. The hook is really repetitive, but I like it a lot. His flow on the first verse is awesome. Goddamn. He killed that shit.

Broke niggas
This is not a monetary joke, nigga
I’m talkin’ ’bout your spirit, keep them demons far from near me
I don’t fear them in this motherfuckin’ cloak, nah nigga, I don’t fear shit

Dude’s flow is really impressive, especially on the second verse. Well, throughout the whole song he’s rapping his ass off. I love this shit. The beat is cool, and Chavis killed it. This is dope af.

9. Alexis produced by Beware

This song has kind of a dark, sad yet melodic instrumental, but the percussion pattern sounds like something I’d hear in a club. Chavis is singing with autotune on the hook. It actually sounds pretty good to me. Hmm… I don’t think I’m gonna care for the content of this song based on what he’s saying in the hook.

This shit could be a little hard for us
So we should take a little time for love

It sounds really good though, so I don’t mind it. I’m getting some 808s & Heartbreak vibes from this. He thankfully starts rapping after about a minute and a half. Damn. This is actually really good honestly. His autotuned singing is catchy as hell, and the verse was great. I think this shit is dope af.

10. Down By Law produced by Orlando Wade

Hmm… Something about the mixing on this song doesn’t sound right. This shit sounds kinda amateurish to be honest. It’s like they recorded it on a cheap mic. It’s weird because none of the other songs sound as rough as this one. It’s not bad enough to ruin the song though. I can still enjoy it. The beat is nothing special, but it works. This first verse is pretty dope.

Niggas hate to see you flourish
When your skin look moorish
Don’t you ever ever ever fuck with papa bear porridge
Your raps fuckin’ weak, fast forward to your choruses
My bitch ass like a horse’s, that’s a Stallionaire for ya

The hook is pretty simplistic, but it gets the job done. The second verse was good. He really likes that papa bear porridge line. He repeated it like four times in the song. This is definitely one of the weakest songs on the album, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I just don’t know why the sound quality seemed so much weaker than the rest of the album. Whatever. I still fuck with the song. It’s dope.

11. Lessons produced by Orlando Wade

Wow. This beat is fantastic. This is already a huge step up from the previous track. The autotuned hook sounds pretty good. The first verse is really great. He kinda sounded slightly Kendrick Lamarish to me at some points. I could definitely see Kendrick rapping that second verse. He killed that shit. The first verse was really good, but the second one was stellar. This is definitely another one of the best songs on the album. I love the beat, the hook is cool, and he snapped on the verses. This shit is dope af.

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Wow. This is one of the most surprising albums I’ve heard all year. I knew next to nothing about Chavis Chandler and just decided to check it out off the strength of his connections with Nolan & Royce. I’m really glad I decided to give it a shot because I think this project is amazing. This is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. There’s not a single track that I don’t like. The production is fantastic for the most part, and Chavis rapped his ass off throughout the whole project. I really don’t have any complaints to be honest. I don’t think there are any consistent flaws. There are a couple tracks I didn’t love as much as the rest of the album, but for the most part I think this shit is amazing. Do not miss out on this project. It’s dope af.

Favorite Song: Shinin’
Least Favorite Song: Down By Law

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