This project was released on February 10th this year. brainorchestra. is an artist I’ve covered a couple times on this blog before. I first discovered him through his feature on Elaquent’s Forever Is a Pretty Long Time album, and ever since then I’ve listened to everything he’s been putting out. This is actually the first of two projects he’s released so far in 2023. After this, he put out a sequel to E-Town General, which I’m planning on covering at some point. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t skip over this one because it’s really goddamn good. Every track is self-produced, and he included the instrumentals at the end of the EP, so if for whatever reason you don’t like his rapping, you can still enjoy the beats. Thankfully I do appreciate his rapping, so I’ll just be talking about the first 8 tracks here.
The opening song is entitled Water, Yeast, Flour. I really love this instrumental. It makes me think of cruising in a convertible with the top off on a summer night. The verse from Brain is fire too. I’ve always liked brainorchestra.’s rapping, but I feel like he’s gotten better since I first started listening to him.
Hope you feel it, tryna bring my soul with lyrics
Live fearless, still a man if I don't hold tears in
I know you hear him, this the word all understand
Fuck the man, I was sellin' packs, duckin' Uncle Sam
His flow and voice sound really great over this beat. The song’s just over two minutes long, so there’s only time for one verse, but it’s fire. I think this track is really dope. It’s followed by Mountains, which is arguably even better.
This is the shortest song on the project, but it doesn’t feel incomplete or anything. I love the minimalistic percussion, and the primary loop is fire. It’s a really chill instrumental, but not in a boring way. I’m not good at identifying instruments, but I think that’s a flute. I could be wrong. It sounds fire though. I love it. This would be an amazing track to shmoke weed to. Brain rapped really well on the verse.
Ayo, I come from dollar slices and Sour D
Made salaries off flower, every hour had to count a G
You need that real shit, you can count on B
And if your money lookin' low, here's a pound on me
This song has the same structure as the preceding track. It’s just one great verse over a fantastic instrumental. I really fuck with this track. I think it’s dope. Track 3 is called Dollar Dollar Bill, and it features an artist named Butch Dawson. He was also featured on Big Brain. I think he was on Pink Siifu’s GUMBO’! as well. I personally am not really crazy about his performance on this track, but it’s not bad at all. It’s actually pretty good. I just don’t think his voice or flow sound as good as those of brainorchestra. It’s far from a bad verse though. I definitely prefer Brain’s verse, but they both did a good job. I’m not super into the hook on this song, but it’s fine. The beat is really nice. It sounds like a spa in the form of music. Normally that would be a bad thing for me because I generally don’t really care for really lavish sounding beats, but this one is so well done that I can’t help but enjoy it. This certainly isn’t a highlight on the project for me, but I definitely enjoyed it to some extent. I think it’s pretty good. It’s followed by the title track, It Means a Lot, which is a highlight for me. The piano driven beat is absolutely stunning. I love the drums too. As soon as the beat drops I get the coveted involuntary head nod. The verse from Brain is really nice too.
Need it all or nothing, kid, I can't be settlin'
The run has been incredible, and can't afford you steppin' in
See, I invest to win, they flexin', but they necklace thin
Don't mess with him, he a regular, you just checkin' in
This is probably the jazziest song on the whole EP, and I love it. The whole thing is just one verse with no hook or bridge or anything like that. The structure is very simple, but what’s here is so well done that I don’t even mind. This shit is fire. I love it. I think it’s dope as hell. It’s followed by another highlight called Thin Patience. Once again, I absolutely love the production here. It sounds like night time in the form of music. It’s fire. This song is structured just like the preceding track. The verse is great.
Truth through the windpipe, got somethin' to say
Lotta things been on my mind that could fuck with my day
Thinkin' 'bout my lost friends who are stuck in a grave
Or how my faith in people low, smokin' 'til I'm too faded
My experience is mine, why I gotta be explainin'
That I'm human like yourself? But you busy bein' jaded
There’s really nothing that I don’t like about this track. The production is fire, and Brain killed it. The song’s dope as hell. The following track is yet another highlight entitled The Best in It, and it features Kenn Starr. The jazzy beat is fucking amazing. I love it. Brain sounded great on the first verse, but it’s really the feature from Kenn Starr that pushes this track to the next level for me.
Ten percent of my life I been an expert
Other ninety percent spent doin' the leg work
Give me names of who better in the game
And they came up with nothin', it's like googlin' my net worth
Well connected like computers on a network
Could show you how to do this, but you gotta cut the check first
Could see from my demeanor, I don't stress work
Probably 'cause I'm breathin' in sativa 'til my chest hurt
That’s honestly one of my favorite features of the year. He slaughtered this shit. I love it. The song’s dope as hell, and a strong contender for my favorite track on the EP. The penultimate track is one last highlight called Sequence. I really love the jazzy, lighthearted-sounding production on this track. It kinda reminds me of something Raw Poetic would spit over. This song’s got a pretty nice hook, and the rapping is great.
Never stop, get my paper and learn, apply and repeat
Yeah my eyes red 'cause I'm high off the weed
Live free, rock designer and sleep well
To put it into detail, need another check in the email
He sounds really good over this beat. Both of the verses on this track are really nice. Again, this is a track that I have zero nitpicks with. I think it’s dope as hell. The closing track is called How You Getting Yours?
The instrumental on this one didn’t blow me away like the preceding few did, but I still really like it. The drums sound really good. I feel like Action Bronson would sound really nice on this beat. I don’t even like Action Bronson that much, but this seems like the kinda shit he would fit over well. Brain killed the verse here too. I think this song has some of his best rapping on the whole EP. I loved the Nas reference.
Gloves tight
All I need is MPCs, blunts, records, and one mic
Call me Brainstradamus, never common when I walk in
They astonished and silent, you can hear my watch tick
Let the time pass, city view from patios, fine wine and glasses
You see the status, cats molasses sweet talkin' bad of me
Just projecting what they wanted badly
I think I misquoted that last line. I don’t think he said “badly,” but I couldn’t quite make out what the actual lyric was. Anyway, I think this is a really dope song, and a great way to close the project.
This EP is great. I think this is the best non-instrumental project I’ve heard from brainorchestra. He really impressed me with his skills here, not only on the mic, but on the boards as well. These beats are fire, and I love the way Brain sounds over them. He sounds smooth as hell whenever he raps. This shit just made me even more excited to check out E-Town General 2. It also made me realize that brainorchestra. is one of my favorite modern underground producers. I would love to hear some of my other favorite MCs rap over his beats. I really don’t have any consistent gripes with this project. The songs are kinda short, but they don’t even feel undercooked at all. I really enjoyed this thing. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. I think it’s really dope.
Favorite Song: It Means a Lot
Least Favorite Song: Dollar Dollar Bill
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What do you think?