This extended play was released on November 7th this year. King Author is an MC with whom I first became familiar through his feature on Bloodblixing’s SODOM & GOMORRAH: GANGSTA EDITION album. I really enjoyed his performance on that project, so I decided that I would keep an eye out for future releases from him. I also enjoyed his feature on andrew‘s latest album, which was released a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be writing about this project here at first, but by the time I had finished listening to it I knew I had to share it with you guys.
The project begins with Initiintro. I really love the instrumental on this track. King Author doesn’t rap on this one; the entire track just consists of someone speaking about what a faternal order actually is. I think this works well as the intro because personally I had no idea what the hell a faternal order was before checking this project out. The first actual song is called Imported Oils. I really love Haleem’s instrumental on this track. I love how jazzy and floaty it sounds. The drums are really light, but not in a bad way. The production is just really chill. It kinda gives me the same vibe that a lot of Dilla’s beats give me. I think it’s fantastic. King Author killed this shit too.
Little bougie, never Hollywood
Probably in your hood
No questionin' if the product's good
God is good all the time
Parallel to Allah, tellin' 'em all I'm born through the mind
Not simply because of the darkness that my melanin caused
Every L ain't a loss, levelin' off would've settled the cost
Carlos Lehder sort of a business sense in a sense
Innocence strips, cynicism is now put on when he gettin' dressed
Even anxious when he gettin' rest, strength exercises liftin' stress
Different reps got me chiseled now, meanin' inside there was a good war
Look for me and the chick in used sections of any bookstore
He’s just rapping the entire time with no hook or bridge or anything like that. The verse is fire. This song honestly grew on me a lot with repeated listens. I liked it before, but now I love it. I think it’s really dope. The following track is called Elevate, and it’s even better. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the project. The production here is amazing. I absolutely love how light the percussion is. It’s not nonexistent, but it’s very minimalistic. This beat kinda reminds me of the instrumental to Modest by Isaiah Rashad, although I like this one way more. This track actually has a hook unlike the preceding track, and it’s pretty good. The first verse was nice, but the second verse is even better.
Deceit lays trails in between the veils
Under which is all you well-wishing obtainment
I speak from in between lines on missing pages
Citing division as a remainder of pressure points of view
Intimate with soft spots of danger
Unexplained wounds in unexposed places
I don’t really know who to compare King Author’s style to, but I feel like a collab between him and MidaZ the BEAST would be fire. Again, this is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. I appreciate how it has a more fleshed out structure than that of the preceding track, and the production is amazing. The song’s dope as hell. Track 4 is called Front Lobe Focus, and once again the production is stellar. The opening verse is great too, and this song definitely has the best hook up to this point on the project. King Author’s flow on the second verse is excellent. It always sounds good, but it stood out more than usual on the second verse to me.
Cause and effect, I pro-act and react
You overly worried about what we have
Reverse that attention and then maybe you would achieve that
On a second wind and ain't nothin' for one to breeze past
The fearless, if I'm gettin' wheezy then I'm lookin' where number three at
You on kneepads for your master, hatin' on someone you not as free as
The song’s really dope. The penultimate track is another highlight called Value in a Face. Once again, the production here really blew me away. I love this beat. It’s one of the more melodic instrumentals on the project. I might like it even more than that of Elevate. I don’t know. They’re both fire. This is the longest song on the EP, but it doesn’t feel like it overstays its welcome at all. The hook here is really nice, and I love King Author’s vocal delivery on the second verse. He sounds slightly different from how he usually sounds here, so I thought this verse was performed by a featured artist at first, but that’s not the case.
I take L's and bleed wisdom
Failed visions of desires of profit for realization
Promotin' favors, alone changin'
My favorites joined me in parallel stages
Case by case procedures that we can link from, masterin' basics
Advanced metrics contained him
When it rains hands are cut, palms up
Pullin' off disrupted by curious neighbors
Smilin', salutations, first name basis
Thanks being given and invitation
Redefining race, word is bond down to mistakes
Heard of time, bound to the grave, lounging and miss pain
Again, this is a highlight for me on this project. I think it’s dope as hell. The closing track is entitled Islamic Illustrations, and it’s really dope. Just like with every other track on the project, I really enjoyed the production. King Author’s lyricism here is great, as usual. The song doesn’t have a hook, but I didn’t mind the straightforward structure at all. I think this works really well as an outro. It’s the shortest song on the project unless you count the intro, but it doesn’t feel incomplete or anything. I really fuck with this track. It’s dope.
This EP is great. Both King Author & Haleem are some of my favorite artists that I’ve discovered in 2023 honestly. I was pretty impressed by every single instrumental on this project—even on the intro—and King Author is one of those dudes who I can count on to kill every single verse he spits. This project honestly grew on me a little bit as I gave it repeated listens. I knew immediately that I fucked with it though. They followed this project up with a full album recently, so I’m looking forward to hearing that because this was a really great introduction to their work. I really don’t have any consistent gripes. King Author doesn’t have the most recognizable or expressive voice, but his skills on the mic are undeniable to me. Check this shit out and let me know what you think in the comments below. I think it’s really dope.
Favorite Song: Elevate
Least Favorite Song: Islamic Illustrations
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