This album was released on July 22nd this year. Elevator Jay is an artist who I’ve just recently become familiar with. The first time I ever heard him rap was when he was featured on a Michael Christmas song earlier this year called SAY CHEESE, and he really stood out on that song. I thought his verse was fantastic, and then I eventually heard his guest verse on Lute’s debut album from 2017, West 1996, Pt. 2. Once again, he really impressed me. After hearing that, I was too impressed to not google him. Once I found out that he was a fellow North Carolinian I had to check out his music. Yes, I’m biased. I really don’t know why. I literally did not give a shit about my homestate until I started really getting into Hip Hop. I’m not sure what caused that. Anyway, this was my first time ever checking out a project from Elevator Jay, so I went into it completely blind. All I had to go on was the two stellar guest verses I’d heard from him. Thankfully, this project ended up being really goddamn good. There’s not a single track that I didn’t like, so I’ll talk about every song in the proper order of the tracklist. The album starts off with the title track, which is one of my favorite songs from the project. First of all the production is awesome. It’s really smooth and chill, but the percussion is heavy and the bass is strong. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the sung intro at first, but it goes really well with the wavy beat. The only thing I could think of the first time I heard the song was UGK. That classic Southern influence permeates the whole album thankfully. The hook on this track is absolutely superb. Jay’s singing sounds really fucking good. This just sounds like a really fun, wholesome party in the form of a song. There’s not a single aspect of it that I don’t like. A remix with Bun B or 8 Ball & MJG would be a dream come true. The song is dope af. It’s followed by Back Then, which is another standout cut for me. He sounds a lot like Andre 3000 to me in terms of his voice. He even name drops Andre at one point in this song, along with Three 6 Mafia & UGK. I love the piano-driven production on this track, and the hook is dope as hell. The song’s basically about how people dismissed Southern Hip Hop back in the day, but now they’re all on our dick. The first verse of this song was cool to me, but the second one is even better in my opinion.

Now it’s cool to be Southern
First ain’t nobody see us
We was “slow and talkin’ country”
Now these folk wanna be us

The song is dope af. The following track is called Quakin’, which is yet another standout track for me. The beat is great, and the hook is catchy as fuck. The lyrics aren’t super complexed or dense, but Jay’s flow and delivery are so appealing that I can’t help but love it. This dude is really the epitome of Southern Hip Hop in my opinion.

A big body Benz’ll make my heart flutter
But a old school chevy could prolly make me stutter
Got a fetish for whips, but foreign ain’t on my list
I’d rather drop a big block and put some paint on a bitch

His accent is so thick that I would’ve never guessed he was from North Carolina. Just from hearing him rap I probably would’ve said he was from Mississippi or something. I’ve only been to Charlotte a few times though, so I guess I’m not too familiar with the area. They’re probably more stereotypically Southern than the rest of the state. Anyway, I love the song. He sounds awesome on this shit. He reminds me a lot of Big K.R.I.T.; people who were disappointed by K.R.I.T. Iz Here might wanna give this album a listen because this shit is everything I love about Southern Hip Hop in one album. The song is dope af. I think Burnin’ Tires is my favorite song on the album. This one sounds more Outkast influenced than the preceding material. He also kinda sounds like the lead singer of the Commodores at certain points in my opinion. The beat is fucking awesome, and Jay’s melodic delivery sounds great. The sung hook is glorious. He sounds so fucking good on that shit, mayne. It’s impossible not to get that involuntary head nod while listening to this song. There’s not a single aspect of it that I dislike. This shit is boiling hot fiya. The following track is called The Same.

The beat on this song is fire, and Jay’s flow throughout the whole track is really nice. The hook isn’t one of my favorites, but it’s still pretty solid. Honestly, the song doesn’t blow me away quite as much as a lot of the others, but it’s still really dope. It’s probably the hardest song on the whole album up to this point.

Just ’cause you strapped, that don’t make you a beast, nigga
Everybody can’t fight, but everybody can squeeze triggers

I think it has some of the best rapping on the project. It’s a dope track. It’s followed by Yeen Neva Lied, which is the only song that doesn’t have a beat that I actually like.

This is probably the closest thing to a traditional Trap song on the album. I guess the preceding track was kind of a Trap song too. I’m not really sure how I feel about this song as of 5:37 PM on Monday, November 18th. I mean, I definitely know that I like it. I just can’t decide whether I think it’s good or great. The repetitive organ-driven production isn’t really that good to me personally, but Jay’s actual performance over it is what makes me enjoy the song. If this beat was given to someone like Gucci Mane the song would most likely end up being trash. You pretty much know what you’re gonna get from Gucci on every single song. He’s not exactly a versatile artist. Elevator Jay was able to turn this instrumental into a fun song though. His flow is great. The silly music video is pretty entertaining too.

Still I pound the pavement
Boy I gotta make the payment
To paint the picture worth payin’ for

He likens himself to a preacher at one point in the song, which is kind of a cool reference to the organ in the beat. I think this is actually my least favorite song on the album, but I do like it. His actual rapping is what saves the song for me personally. It’s a good track though. I fuck with it. The following song is called Drop; I like it more than the preceding track, but it’s still far from my favorite on the album. The production is fucking awesome, and Jay’s flow is tight as always. The first verse is cool, but the content just doesn’t really appeal to me personally; he’s basically rapping about hoes shaking their ass. I like the song sonically, but the lyrics just aren’t really my cup of tea. It’s a good song though. I fuck with it. It’s followed by On the Floor, which is basically just a fun, party-oriented song. The content isn’t super interesting or anything, but the production is dope, and the song is very well done overall. I think Jay’s flow is dope, and the hook is cool too. It’s a dope song. The penultimate song is called My Chevy, and this is the last real major highlight for me. The production is hard as fuck, and the hook is catchy as shit. This is probably actually the hardest song on the album. The title kinda gives away what the content is about. A remix with Big K.R.I.T. would be perfect. I kinda wish the hook wasn’t so repetitive, but aside from that I have no issues with it at all. It’s dope af in my opinion. The final song is called Just Chill.

The beat on this track is pretty nice, and the hook is catchy as fuck. His singing sounds really great here. The vocals don’t sound quite as good during the actual verses, but they’re not bad. I like the song a lot. I just wish he rapped the verses instead of singing them. However, the production and hook are way too good for me to not fuck with this song. It’s really dope. 🙂

This album is great. I’m really glad I stumbled upon this guy because he’s dope as hell. Prior to writing this review I didn’t have the production credits, so I messaged Elevator Jay asking who did the beats. Apparently the entire album is completely self produced. My mind was blown as soon as I found out. This dude is talented as hell. As I stated in the body, this project is really the epitome of Southern Hip Hop packed into 35 minutes. There’s not a single track that I dislike. I don’t think Jay is like a super impressive top tier lyricist or anything. He’s just really good at making fun music. He’s a good songwriter. I’d understand if someone listened to this project and didn’t care for it, but his talent is undeniable in my opinion. He’s got a great flow, a knack for catchy hooks, a good singing voice, and he just so happens to be a pretty great producer on top of all that. I’m really excited about this guy, and I look forward to hearing more of his work in the future. This shit is dope.

Favorite Song: Burnin’ Tires
Least Favorite Song: Yeen Neva Lied

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