Human is Joell Ortiz's PRhyme. Not that any new album released since PRhyme has ever been PRhyme, but Joell makes a solid attempt by collaborating with the Grammy-nominated producer !llmind. He may not be DJ Premier by any means, but the beats that he cooked up for this feast deliver well throughout the project.
Human is short. It may be only 38 minutes from the start of track 1 to the end of track 11, but rap has proven that less is more. The above-mentioned PRhyme is just shy of 35 minutes. The Roots' Undun is 38 minutes. I shouldn't even have to tell you that Illmatic is 39 minutes and 44 seconds. The short span of Human allows Joell to punch his way through his rhymes quick and clean, and some songs are over before you even realize they've begun, with each song averaging at 3 and a half minutes. Joell begins Human with a simple statement of intent; "I'm a quarter of the best rap group in my opinion ever assembled, but I'm 100% of Joell, and I wanna tell that story some more." and so he does. Off he goes, launching into the 10 tracks which follow the intro, rhyming his way about his life and about how Joell Ortiz is. "I just might, do a business dinner in my slippers, be 30 minutes late and then, show up with a stripper" (a nice nod to his last album House Slippers) on "I Just Might". "I grew up in the 'jects around killers, MAC-11s, TECs and 9 millis" (perhaps a nod to Tech N9ne, the super-speed rap artist who toured with Slaughterhouse?) on "My N****s". Steadily he works through the album, discussing all types of things about himself, including how he'll shoot to your photo shoot and shoot your photo shoot (Confusing, right? Check "Lil' Piggies"), but then through awakening from a nightmare at the end of "Latino, Pt. 2" he comes to the realization at the end of the album that he's a Bad Santa. He's a once-a-year on Christmas dad who wins appreciation and respect with a wrapped-up Playstation 4. He thought he has this incredible life, but now understands that gifts come wrapped as curses, and he fell for it like so many others because he's only Human. (Which reminded me of Joe Budden's similarly named track "Only Human" on his last EP Some Love Lost, however this is a much less tragic and wounded tale) Musically, Human picks up spectacularly on the second half. The problem I had with House Slippers was that it was too calm, too laid back, as Joell wasn't taking himself seriously. The entire theme of House Slippers may have been finding his comfort zone in rap and rapping like he was sitting at home on a sofa with a remote in his hand and house slippers on his feet, but this comfort zone Joell based himself on for his last project didn't really capture my attention - and when it did, it didn't last long, the only memorable song being "Phone". The first half of Human is similar to this - it's nothing exciting. He rhymes to a beat. There isn't much to say other than that. There are a few good moments, with the P alliteration at the end of "Six Fo'", but that's about it. But once we reach "Lil' Piggies", shit gets real. !llmind changes it up to a dark, haunting beat reminiscent of Crooked I's "Struggle" on the House Rules mixtape, and the threatening way that Joell counts his little piggies sends shivers of fear down your spine. "Latino, Pt.2" brings in the guest features, (all of which delivering solid rap verses, however we don't see any of the other Slaughters here) giving Joell three odd minutes to recharge his batteries after the frenzied murdering on the last song. From this track until the end, the beats heard are without question the best on the album, with the pinnacle being Bad Santa. A soulful, melodic track that sees Joell taking a step back, looking at himself, and asking us, the listeners, if he's in fact not the Joell Ortiz he wants to be. A solid installment in the gargantuan Hip-Hop discography of 2015 so far, Human is a nice refresher on House Slippers. The rhymes are better, the beats are better, and overall the album is better. If you weren't a fan of the last work, I recommend giving this album a try. It speaks a strong message about self-realization, and particularly the second half, carries good replay value. Human is the fourth body of solo work from the Slaughters since Welcome To: Our House, which means all that's left now is Glass House. 7.5/10 |
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31-49 = Sub-par 50-60 = Average 61-70 = Decent 71-80 = Good 81-89 = Great 90-99 = Incredible 100 = Perfect Archives
September 2018
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