This project was released on February 10th this year. Nejma Nefertiti is an MC whom I discovered around December of last year, and I was pretty blown away by her technical skill. She’s one of the most exciting artists I’ve discovered in a long ass time. If you want a good taste of what she’s capable of, check out her song The Marathon. That shit is fucking incredible. On the other hand, I was unfamiliar with Zenati before checking this project out. I didn’t really know what it would sound like. I was just expecting Zenati to be a typical traditional boom bap producer, but that didn’t end up being the case. The beats here are a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. I knew there would at least be a couple songs on this project that I fucked with, but I wasn’t expecting it to be one of the best releases of the year. After this, I’m gonna be scrambling to check out whatever both of these artists do in the future.

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The opening track is called Poeiralude I, and it’s an instrumental intro. It’s a pretty good introduction to Zenati’s soundscape. The instrumental is a lot dreamier than I was expecting anything on this project to be. I think it’s a really dope track despite its simplicity. The first actual collaborative song is called Berimbau, and it’s fire. Once again, I wasn’t expecting to hear anything like this. I wouldn’t have guessed that Nejma Nefertiti would rhyme over this type of production. I assumed she would be spitting over generic boom bap beats, but that’s not what this is at all. It actually sounds like the type of instrumental that someone like R.A.P. Ferreira would rhyme over. The beat is amazing. Needless to say, Nejma Nefertiti fucking slaughtered it. I could listen to her rap forever, man. She’s so fucking ill.

Hazardous, put 'em to death and raise 'em again like Lazarus
Dust yourself off and place your bets, I'm getting ravenous
The rapping is holding me over by just a fraction, kid
The pharaoh queen Nefertiti known for the elaborateness
A bag of this, a bag of that, eatin' on these banana raps
Get saddled back, imagine that, screaming like you a man attacked
The snake and crane secret, you best just remain seated
Get your brains beat in, time and a reason, it's slayin' season
It's hell singin', I'm bringin' the scorpion and stingin'
The bells ringin', you king and I off your whole dominion

Her aggressive flow and rhymes are mesmerizing. This is the kinda shit that makes me say good rap is like magic. I’m totally enchanted by her skills. The hook is fire too. There’s really nothing about this song that I don’t love. The second verse is even better than the first one.

Nice with the dice drop, I'm like when the ice pop
So refreshing like dry cornea moisturized with eyedrops
In tune with the future, but I ain't make a deal like cyclops
Grow a pussy, you fuckers is weak, you can't buy props

She fucking rhymed her ass off. This is absolute fire. It’s one of my favorite songs of the year. I think it’s dope as fuck. The following track is an interlude called Poeiralude II. I think a big reason why I love this project so much is because it really subverted my expectations. I did not think I would be hearing anything this jazzy on this EP. I love it. This track is dope. It’s followed by another major highlight entitled Open Razor. This one features a really amazing verse from Napoleon da Legend. I wanna say it’s one of the best verses I’ve heard from him.

Them bullies back again, the anecdotes is fully accurate
Pulled up in a bullet train then the bullets rained right at the kid
I sling that sugarcane from Africa, I should've became an activist
But I changed and adapted to the cruel game of the baphomet

He slaughtered this track. I absolutely love the jazzy beat on this song too. The hook is fire, and of course Nejma Nefertiti snapped on the final verse. Goddamn, there’s really nothing about this track that I don’t love. The production, flows, rhymes, lyrics, and hook are all fire. I can’t praise this track enough. It’s one of my favorite songs of the year. I live for this shit. It’s dope as fuck. It’s followed by my favorite interlude on the project, Poeiralude III. Once again, the production is very jazzy. It’s also pretty dark, which is why I love it so much. The heavy bass sounds great. The record scratches are a nice touch as well. I think this track is dope as hell. Track 6 is called Cane Sword, and it features an artist with whom I was previously unfamiliar named Zach Lost. The dude is also a really talented MC though. His flow was nice as hell, and he rhymed really well. The reference to Bam Bam from The Flintstones was nice. I love how Nejma Nefertiti comes in right behind him to murder it.

My bars bomb you, I'm on you, caught you just like the law do
You wrong, boo, you decided to make the wrong move
I'm strong proof, and yes I meant to alarm you
I've torn booths, set 'em on fire just spittin' raw truth
I warned you, this is a courtesy I was born to
Inform you that this is your ending, that's how the storm blew
That's your cue to call on the lord, I'll now escort you
Call me the angel of death as I abort you
The door to your worst hellfire, as I taught you
Reward you for what you have done, I'm coming towards you
Of course you runnin' away, couldn't ignore you
I saw through like dragons and flames, my roar grew

They each spit two verses on this track, and all of them are fire. The production on this song didn’t blow me away as much as it did on the other songs, but I still like the beat quite a bit. Overall, this song is dope as hell to me. Poeiralude IV is another very jazzy, melodic instrumental interlude that I like a lot. One thing I appreciate about the interludes on this project is that they don’t overstay their welcome at all. If this track was any longer it would probably get stale, but thankfully Zenati kept it short and sweet. Almost all of the interludes are less than a minute long. This one’s dope. The penultimate track is called Double Edged Dagger, and it’s another one of my favorite songs of the year. The production is melodic, jazzy, and cinematic sounding. Nejma’s flow on this track is crazy. This might be her best performance on the whole project. I don’t wanna spoil too many of the rhymes for you guys, but here’s one of my favorite lines.

Some do succumb to suicide when the sum's due

That’s fire. She fucking annihilated this track. This is a strong contender for the best song on the whole EP. I love it. It’s dope as fuck. The closing track is Poeiralude V, and it’s the only track that I don’t really have any desire to return to. It’s not particularly bad or anything. I just don’t get much out of it. It’s only 20 seconds long, and the loop is really simplistic. I think if it was developed a bit more it could’ve turned into a more memorable track, but as it is it kinda just exists. I’m indifferent towards it. I mean, I kinda like it. It’s kinda cool. I certainly don’t mind listening to it. It just feels unnecessary. I don’t think it adds much to the overall project. It’s decent though.

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^{This shit is fuckin’ amazing. Goddamn. I love it. This project is exactly the reason why Nejma Nefertiti is one of the most exciting artists on my radar right now. Her Letters from the Akashic album was good, but this is on another level to me. Every song that she rapped on blew me away. This was also a really great introduction to Zenati. I love hearing Nejma over these unorthodox, jazzy instrumentals. I wouldn’t mind hearing these two artists work together for a full album because this is definitely the best EP I’ve heard so far in 2023, and I’ll be surprised if anything surpasses it by the end of the year. When I listen to Nejma Nefertiti rhyme, I feel like she’s one of the most technically skilled MCs alive. She rhymes like a beast. I cannot wait to see what she does next. Do not sleep on this project. It’s dope as fuck.}

Favorite Song: Open Razor
LEast Favorite Song: Cane Sword

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