If you’re like me you might be hesitant to listen to any new artist these days, due to the over-saturated sounds lingering over us like fog in a graveyard. It can be tough finding some true, authentic, grimey shit that has a subtle concept, but not at all forcing it down our throats with hyperboles and metaphors out of this world. But just straight Rap. That’s what I got from The Price of Tea In China, produced by The Alchemist. We can see AL has no plan of slowing down his recent string of collaborative tapes. This collaborative effort connected Detroit rapper Boldy James with a new deal with GRISELDA RECORDS earlier in March, having his album primer on TIDAL’s Elliot Wilson Car Test video series.
The album is not only a contender for album of the year, it sets the bar for any album coming later on in the year. Boldy James is a blank faced gangster, with seething lyrics blowing up Alchemist’s cooking lab. Boldy gives a crackpipe smoke performance on the track “S.N.O.R.T” as his storytelling drags the listener through the projects of Detroit. Gun wars, fiends, and admitting that he’s felt that he’s fucked up the culture due to his drug contributions. You are getting a “street journal” from Boldy, the artist really wants you to feel stranded, cold, and wants you to find your own way on this LP. It has no controlled plot, other than what The Alchemist is delivering. On the track “Run-Ins” he did something I haven’t heard since Jay-z’s “22 Two’s” where the entire song is surrounded by the title of the track. On the track “Pinto” he tells us how he went across the country, touring, making music and selling them beans. You have to thank ALCHEMIST
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