This latest album from Ghais Guevara was released on January 24th this year by Fat Possum Records. Ghais Guevara is someone who has been on my radar since 2022 when he dropped his popular album, There Will Be No Super-Slave. I listened to it and thought it was very solid, although I didn’t love it like a lot of other underground heads seemed to. In terms of his production, he was a little hit or miss with me. The way some of the samples were chopped along with certain drum patterns just didn’t appeal to me at all. That issue persists to some extent on this latest record, although to a lesser degree. I think this is the best project I’ve heard from Ghais so far. This isn’t a full album review, so I’m only gonna be writing about a few highlights, but there aren’t any songs that I would say are bad on this project. Everything is at the very least very solid and enjoyable to some extent.

The album is split up into two sections: Act 1 and Act 2. The skits are pretty well-acted and funny in my opinion, but they aren’t something I would pay much attention to on repeat listens of the album. The first highlight for me comes in the form of track 3, which is called Leprosy. I believe this one was released as a single. However, I didn’t hear it until checking out the full album. In a nutshell, this is one of the best instrumentals I’ve heard all year. It’s easily my favorite song on the album, solely because of the production. However, that’s not to say that the rapping is even remotely bad. His flow is mad nice throughout the entire track. The one minor gripe I have is that he just doesn’t have a very powerful voice in my opinion, so I don’t think it hits quite as hard as it could if performed with the right delivery. Ghais’ voice is just very light and thin, so it doesn’t stand out from the production much. The verses are great though. Like I said, the flow is fire.

Dodgin' zealotry, life of the revelry
Shatterin opps, they tryna piece em back together, Jackie Kennedy
You can smell the hate in the function, stench of the enmity
I'm gettin' on they nerves like leprosy

The hook is very catchy as well. The song feels really energetic and refreshing. It’s amazing. The next highlight for me is called I Gazed Upon the Trap with Ambition. The Trap beat here is pretty hard-hitting, and Ghais’ flow—particularly on the hook—is super catchy. It definitely gives me the involuntary head nod every time it comes on.

Know they got the sticks, don't press right now, we gonna slide another time, but it's not our day
Runnin' with sticks anytime you in town, if you ain't involved then you in my way
Needed a lick just to hop in the stu', I'ma write me a hit like I'm cookin' the yay
Snatch a n*gga up, hide the body in the trench, like it ain't no war in the Ba Sing Se

I don’t love the second part of the song where the beat switches up quite as much as the first part, but it’s still very good. He raps with a more fast-paced flow on the second part, which is cool. I just don’t think the beat is as good as the first one. The song is still fire overall to me despite that. I think it’s awesome.

The next track I wanna talk about is called Yamean. I was hoping there would be a reference to Anna Faris’ character from Scary Movie, but I didn’t catch one. The song is still pretty dope to me though. I mainly like it for the hook, which has another one of the catchiest flows on the album to me.

Two toned truths, know it take two just to tango
So obtuse, but her fruit sweet as a mango
I hold juice, mean I dictate where he can't go

I don’t think the aggressive beat is amazing or anything, but it’s pretty solid. Ghais was able to bring a good energy to it that kinda elevates the production in my opinion. Not just any rapper could make a good song out of this instrumental. With that said, I think the featured artist, FARO, had the better performance on this song. His flow was very lively, and that’s putting it lightly. He killed it.

Crossover, I do it like divo, stupid
My n*ggas, we mobbin' contigo, move it
N*ggas keep talkin' 'bout beams, shoot it
N*ggas keep sayin I'm weak better prove it
Come to Miami with heat, better cool it
N*ggas think they the truth, but I need my payment
Goku, Gohan, what are you sayin'?
Off two X in the club, I'm ragin'
Fuck n*gga look at the road that I'm paving
3-5-2 to the top in the makin'
Not with the cops, boy, I’m not with the bacon
Hit from the front, got a bad bitch shakin'
Bottle of pop makin' drop with the Quagen
Kick it in Canada, Jonathan David
I had to stack it up
I don't think that these fuck n*ggas mad enough

I’m not really familiar with FARO’s music, but this makes me wanna hear more from him because he really stood out. That line where he said “FARO just put in a cheat code” was really cool. The song’s pretty dope.

The last one I’m gonna be discussing is track 10, which is called Bystander Effect.

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In the past I’ve been kind of averse to a lot of DJ Haram’s production, but I actually think this beat is pretty cool. It sounds like what would be playing in the background as I enter a witch’s home while they’re cooking up some bizarre concoction in a cauldron. Basically, it sounds like this image in the form of music…

Ghais’ lyricism on the opening verse is pretty cool. Elucid certainly sounds more fitting over this production style, but Ghais did it justice as well. With that said, I don’t know how much I would like this song without the feature. The production is just right up Elucid’s alley. I’m biased because I just prefer Elucid as an artist in general, so I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his verse was better to me. Even the way the production grew around his vocals was more exciting to me than Ghais’ performance. Despite everything I just said, I have to admit that this song isn’t one of the most replayable on the album to me. I like it within the context of the full project though. It’s a dope track.

^{This is a pretty good album. There are a handful of songs I don’t see myself returning to, and I generally enjoy the first half much more, but overall I’m glad I gave this project a listen because it’s more enjoyable than not. As I kinda mentioned before, my biggest gripe is just that Ghais’ voice doesn’t have much weight to it; it sounds kinda flimsy at times. His flow and writing are really hard though, so it makes up for the feathery vocals. The concept/theme of this album is pretty interesting too. There are some interesting meditations on race and how blackness is commodified in the entertainment industry. I get the feeling that this is something I would’ve been a bit more obsessed with had I heard it a few years ago. That’s more of a statement on where I am as a person these days than the quality of the music though. It’s a good album. Check it out.}

Favorite Song: Leprosy
Least Favorite Song: Camera Shy