This album was released on November 4th this year, and it’s fully self produced. This is definitely my favorite album that I’ve heard from LUNAR. The dude is one of the most prolific artists that I know of right now. I feel like he dropped at least once a month this year, whether it was a project with another MC or a solo release. I’m a fan of his production, and I usually love him on features, but this is my first time writing about a solo project from him. I think this is a pretty good starting place for new listeners, although his Adrammalech album with Iceberg Theory is worth checking out too, especially if you enjoy this one. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna write about this album at first, but by the time it was over I knew I had to tell y’all about it.
The opener, Reckless Abandon, grew on me a shit ton honestly. I liked it when I first heard it, but now I love it. This beat is so fire. One thing I also like about LUNAR’s music is the “HERE’S LUNAR” tag that he puts at the beginning of all his projects. It’s cool as hell. Another thing I’ve come to appreciate about LUNAR’s music is his affinity for people’s mothers. He has so many lines about fucking people’s moms. It’s hilarious.
Pull the pin out the hand grenade, I'm living life with reckless abandon
Got your mom on stage in a dress doing the can-can, a village in the western plains faces a famine
The lord address the peasants in a way they couldn't understand, they gathered hay and wood as demanded
Put a band on your manager's head
Your mom hollered at me, now her marriage is dead
I showered your horse and carriage in lead
The main selling point is definitely the lyricism for me. The way he’s rapping with minimal percussion makes it so that his flow is kind of open and unrestrained. This song is only about a minute and a half long, but the production and lyricism is so entertaining to me that I don’t even mind the brevity. I also just love LUNAR’s rapping voice. This shit is fire. The song’s dope as hell. The following track, KNEE PRESS NIGHTMARE, is even better. I absolutely love this beat. It sounds really cinematic. It kinda makes me think of L.A. Noire for whatever reason. I really love how whimsical LUNAR’s lyricism is too. I don’t really consider myself a fan of Action Bronson because his sense of humor just doesn’t really align with mine. I feel like I enjoy LUNAR the way other Hip Hop fans enjoy Action Bronson though. There’s not a single song on this album that doesn’t have at least one line that makes me crack a smile, whether it be for its comedic value or just because it’s hard as fuck.
Roll the medicinal flowers in the leaf
I was trappin' to senior citizens in Myrtle Beach
Your chick bad, but she workin' for the cheap
Plus she'll murk in the third degree
We ride around in murdered out Suburbans and Jeeps
The Wrangler convertible Kirby pink
She'll strangle a cop if it'll earn her a mink
Legend hit the pot once and he hurled in the sink
I'm glad your mom keeps the curtains clean
Don't make me put the Larry David gerbil in your jeans
This song is just one verse followed by a clip from what sounds like a TV show or movie. The simplistic structure doesn’t bother me though because the production and verse are just that good. This shit is fire. It’s another song that grew on me heavily. I think it’s dope as hell. The following song is the title track, ARCOBALENO. Once again, I really fuck with the production here with the minimal percussion, and I loved the line about moms at the beginning of the verse.
I'm in the matte black Miata
Pull up, windows cracked at the Casbah
Your mom shake the ass to bring me that ciabatta
Talk to jakes, you get splattered and boxed up
You end up a page in the apocrypha
Got the half bird plate down at hot stuff
Rolled an 8th, got the tallboy at Montucky
My boy balled in Detroit like Rod Stuckey
I called your broad ugly and you ain't do shit about it
You copped a loan from me and the vig up to 6,000
I was on the edge of my seat eagerly awaiting every line as I listened to this. I love how disrespectful LUNAR’s bars are.
You got thrown in the mousetrap for talkin' to them rats proudly
I told your mom I heard your dad fapping loudly
Once again, this song has a very straightforward structure. The whole thing is just one verse. However, just like with the preceding material, I enjoyed the production and lyricism so much that I still really fuck with the song. It’s dope. Track 4 is called Sanctum Grounds, and this is the first track with a prominent drum pattern. It gave me the coveted involuntary head nod as soon as the beat dropped. It kinda sounds like something from an old school video game, like The Legend of Zelda. Once again, I loved the line about moms.
Your mom want the hammer, bro, 'cause we too legit
She gave the hand rub with the lubricant
I'm hanging with vampires out in Budapest
I upgraded from rhymin' in two dimensions
Was tired of sayin' shit I felt was too rudimentary
Niggas hatin' 'cause their boo was into me
Roll the paper doob bigger than a Christmas tree
You ain't gettin' no food out here in Tennessee
This is yet another song that grew on me a lot. I think it’s really dope. The following track is called NO ALLOWANCES. I love this one. The outrageous bars are amazing. The way he delivered these lines is so amazing.
I'm ridin' on the hog like Crash
Slide the hotdog in your mom's ass
Got your broad providing service like comcast
She gnaw the head off the pipe like a crawdad
This is easily one of my favorite songs on the album just because of that hotdog line. The way he said that shit sounded so funny. I love it. He killed this track. This is the type of stuff that makes me wish I could rap because I feel like I’d be saying similar shit. As soon as I heard that hotdog line is when I decided that I would have to write a review about this album. I can’t not tell y’all about something like that. So yeah. I love this song. I think it’s dope as hell. It’s followed by another really dope one called The Bad Times. I absolutely love the percussion on this song. This beat is dope as fuck. This is the first song on the album with an actual hook, which I appreciate even though it’s pretty straightforward. LUNAR fuckin’ killed this track too. This might have the best rapping on the whole album.
Got the pot from a kid in Michigan
I saw you give the blunt of mid a twist—gross
I'm off the skunk-scented licorice
He was reachin' for the sun with Icarus
Some of y'all was dumpin' insipid gibberish
In the 90's I dumped on Bill Wennington
Dabbed the wax with your uncle watching Bill Simmons
The candle of your light still flickering
This is definitely a strong contender for my favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite songs I’ve ever heard from LUNAR. This shit is dope as hell. The following track is called Silmeria, and it has one of the more somber instrumentals on the album. Once again, I was hooked by the disrespectful lyricism.
Heard your girl clit smellin' like sardines
Hit y'all with the mix and the hard read
My whip game like the mythical thief Arsène
A military squad couldn't harm me.
This song didn’t blow me away like a lot of the others did, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I think it’s pretty good. Track 8 is called GIOVANNI, and it’s the longest song on the album. This one actually has a pretty good hook, and the beat is really nice. I really appreciate how hard-hitting the drums are, and I love this line…
I only fuck with beef if it results in cold cuts
I like it because I find it humorous that he has a line about appreciating lunch meat. I can certainly relate. Unlike most of the other tracks, this song actually has more than one verse. As far as song structure goes, this is definitely one of the most fleshed out tracks on the album. It’s a really dope song. I fuck with it. It’s followed by the shortest track on the album, Phoenix (Act NOVA). Once again, the beat kinda sounds like something from a Legend of Zelda game, and LUNAR killed the verse here.
I was left for dead, wipe the dirt and the sod off
Back to work, my turn to work the sawed-off
Hit your mom on the Nextel chirp to rawdog
Break down the herb and fill the Raw cone
Cross the line, you get tossed to the ways without a log pose
You just a cog in the grandfather clock that God owns
I think this song has some of the best bars on the album. The song is just under 90 seconds long, but it doesn’t even feel incomplete or anything. I really fuck with it. It’s dope. The penultimate track is called ARCOBALENO II, and it was my favorite song on the album on my first listen. That piano melody sounds really dramatic, but in a good way. It kinda sounds like something from an anime show. It’s definitely the most rich, grandiose beat on the album. LUNAR killed it too.
If we tussle then stand down 'cause the pride'll cost you
Sold your new wife in her bridal costume
Call my studio "the final boss room"
To get in, you gotta roll up about at least a key
Held clandestine meetings in secrecy
Y'all don't want the beef like a meat and three
Pulled up to the show, sold a G at the meet & greet
Got the pad Thai from Eastern Peak
This is the second longest song on the album, and LUNAR’s just spitting one long verse throughout the whole track. He killed it. I really fuck with this one. It’s super dope. The last track is called Solum, and it’s also relatively long. This song has one of my favorite beats on the album, and LUNAR killed it.
I saw the hope glimmer before his life ended
Cope with my strife in the mic sessions
Toke the tree to get high with the spiked beverage
Your wife my new ho, she like it messy
Got her right with the professionalism
Performed the sacrificial rite, it was blessed with the wisdom
You don't wanna fight with respected villains
By the time this album ended, my main takeaway was that LUNAR can really rap. I think before I always looked at him as a producer first, but the dude’s ill as fuck on the mic. This song is really dope.
This album is great. It honestly grew on me exponentially with repeated listens. LUNAR’s production here is fantastic, and I absolutely loved his lyricism. I always really appreciate when an MC’s sense of humor aligns with my own, and I had a big ass smile on my face the whole time I was listening to this shit. Like I kinda mentioned in the body of this review, I find LUNAR’s obsession with moms really funny. The one facet of this album in which there’s room for improvement in my opinion is the songwriting. There were only a couple tracks with hooks; most of the album just felt like a collection of verses over dope beats. That’s not necessarily a bad thing at all, but I think it would have more staying power if he incorporated some hooks, bridges, second verses, etc. That’s just a nitpick though. I obviously really enjoyed this project. This is honestly my favorite project that I’ve heard from LUNAR. There’s not a single track that I don’t like here. This shit is really dope. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments below.
Favorite SOng: The Bad Times
Least Favorite Song: Silmeria
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What do you think?