This album was released on August 8th this year. Flee Lord is an artist who I’m only slightly familiar with. I think the first time I ever heard him was when he was featured on a Westside Gunn song called Niggas in Puerto Rico. That’s my favorite song from Hitler Wears Hermes VI, but that’s not really saying much because I don’t like that mixtape. I think the next time I heard him was when he released a song with Nems earlier this year called Grind to Survive. I only checked it out because Nems was involved, but I ended up being pretty satisfied with Flee Lord’s performance as well, so I guess that’s why I decided to try this album out. It also helps that it’s entirely produced by 38 Spesh. The features are very enticing as well. There doesn’t seem to be a single artist involved in this project that I don’t like or haven’t enjoyed to some extent in the past. I’m not expecting this to be one of the best releases of the year, but I’m fairly certain that I’ll enjoy it quite a bit.

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This album thankfully ended up being very good. It’s about as good as I was expecting it to be. There aren’t actually any songs that I don’t like, so I’ll talk about the full project in the proper order of the track listing. The intro has some pretty dope production, and I was quite satisfied with Flee Lord’s performance.

I like his kind of gruff vocal delivery a lot. I don’t think he’s an amazing lyricist or anything, but his level of talent is sufficient. There were definitely a few lines that kinda stood out.

Got me blackin’ on a 38 Spesh beat
.50 cal, smack a pussy nigga into next week

It’s a dope intro. The second song on the album is called Contract Plus the Bag, and it’s definitely my favorite track on the album. It was the most exciting song in the track listing for me because of the features. The production is really great, and I think the first verse from Flee Lord is pretty good, although he easily has my least favorite performance on the song. I think the second verse from Grafh is the best. He did a really great job.

I tried to hide this life from my son, but he heard the stories
Murder gory; clip in the shotty part blew off
The chopper could make it look like your body parts screw off

His flow and delivery didn’t stand out that much to me, but the actual lyrics are really nice. RJ Payne did a really great job with the final verse as well, but I kinda prefer Grafh’s performance personally. The song is dope af. I was also really looking forward to track 3 because it features Che` Noir, who released one of my favorite albums of the year in June.

I think the production is dope as hell, but I unfortunately wasn’t really crazy about the song as a whole. I mean, I definitely like it, but it’s one of the weaker songs on the album in my opinion. It’s mainly just due to the content. I wasn’t that impressed by Flee Lord’s verse, but he was okay I guess.

Now we smokin’ out the room
I be playin’ instrumentals while she pokin’ out her womb
Panties to the side, plus a hammer in my ride
My hand was in her pie, just examinin’ her vibe

If you know me, you probably know that I’m not typically into this kinda stuff. Che` Noir’s verse was great though. She did a really nice job.

The head so good, it make me wanna thank the bitch who taught you that
That’s the only time I tell the money “I’ma call you back”
Only time we argue when we stake out a opp
And I get mad ’cause he won’t let me take the first shot

This woman is cold as hell, man. I love it. Just imagine your ex’s significant other calling and thanking you for teaching them to give good head lmao. Honestly, if Che` Noir wasn’t on this song I probably wouldn’t like it that much. She did a great job though. The song is followed by Kitchen Talk, which has one of my favorite beats on the album. It has a much more melodic & ostensibly Electronic influence. Flee Lord actually did a really great job spitting over it too.

Perfect with the pen-work
Surfin’ on this big Earth
The rap game was hurtin’
‘Til they purchased all my shit first

The song is short as hell, and it’s only one verse, but it’s still really fucking good in my opinion. It’d definitely be better if it was more fleshed out, but I still enjoyed this quite a bit. It’s a dope song. The mid-album interlude sounds like they just ripped the audio from a Benny the Butcher interview with Sway Calloway in which he shouts out Flee Lord. It feels very pointless, but it’s just over 20 seconds long, so I’m not gonna pretend that it really bothered me at all. The next actual song is the lead single, Perfect Plate, which actually features a verse from 38 Spesh.

I think the production is pretty good. The first verse from Flee Lord didn’t really impress me that much, but it’s certainly not bad. I think it was solid. 38 Spesh easily had the better performance, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise for anyone who’s familiar with him. With that said, I think it’s relatively underwhelming due to the standard to which I hold him. It’s still good though. He was rhyming really well.

These niggas change in the court of law
Destroyed their dogs; some niggas done joined the force to avoid their charge
I’m just trying to get my point across
I was young, appointed boss when I got my first joint of soft
Enough work to employ us all
If he run off, he gambling with his life and that boy is lost
He really can’t afford the cost
Come face your death; you got to place a bet ‘fore the coin is tossed

The song is pretty good, but it’s actually one of the weakest tracks on the album in my opinion. I obviously still like it though. Track 7 is called Hoody Flee. I think the production on this track is really good, and the first verse is nice too.

Before I feed him the clip, try to give him some wisdom
Kept reaching for his shit; lil bitch didn’t listen
Now he prayin’ for his soul while we weighin’ all these Os
If it happen broad day, know the neighbors even know

I’m not really sure about that last line. It doesn’t really make sense, so I probably misquoted him. That’s what it sounds like to me though. Anyway, this is the first of two songs on the album with an actual hook. I think it’s pretty good. The second verse is nice too. I think it’s one of the better songs on the album, mainly because the structure feels far more fleshed out. It’s dope. Not for Fashion might be my least favorite track, but there are aspects of it that I really like. Well, there’s really only one aspect of it that really impresses me. I think the first verse from Termanology is great. His performance is the one thing that makes the song worth returning to for me. However, I will say that it is a bit inconsistent when it comes to the quality of each bar. Some are relatively weak, but I enjoyed his performance overall. Nothing else about the song really stands out much to me unfortunately. The production is pretty mediocre, and the hook doesn’t do much for me. The second verse from Flee Lord was solid though. It’s a good song, but far from a standout track. Again, it’s probably my least favorite. Thankfully, the outro is one of the better songs on the album. I think it has the best instrumental, and the verse from Flee Lord is very good. None of the lyrics really stood out much to me, but his flow was really nice, and he was rhyming well. It’s dope. 🙂

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This album is very good. I’m pretty satisfied with this project, but I have to admit that Flee Lord himself is not particularly exciting to me. He was outperformed by pretty much every feature on the album. He’s definitely a talented rapper, but he doesn’t really stand out from the myriad of gangsta rappers making noise in New York right now. He doesn’t have a recognizable voice or unique personality. He’s a little generic if I’m being completely honest. Again, he’s definitely not bad, but he’s not someone I see myself getting excited about in the future. I’m not gonna be in a rush to check out his other work. He’s actually released like 6 projects this year already. I think this is his fourth one. I probably won’t check out the collaboration with Eto, but I might listen to the Grafh one just because I think he’s dope. Aside from Flee Lord not being the most interesting rapper, I think my biggest gripe is the way a lot of these songs are structured. Most of these tracks just feel really thrown together. Flee Lord doesn’t come off as a seasoned songwriter. It just seems like he’s writing random verses and throwing them over miscellaneous beats. I guess there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it just makes for a slightly forgettable listen, especially since they aren’t super amazing verses or anything. These final thoughts have been very critical, so I just wanna stress that I do think that this is in fact a very good album. I enjoyed it a lot. I just think there are a lot of things he can work on. This is dope though. I fuck with it.

Favorite Song: Contract Plus the Bag
Least Favorite Song: Not for Fashion

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