Indie (October 29, 2013)
Review by Stephen Maddox
Buy this album: Bandcamp
I keep waiting… and I remain disappointed every time. Every time Relic drops an EP, LP, single, collaboration, or production for someone else, I am here, holding my breath. Maybe, just maybe one day, he will drop something wack. Well, here I am disappointed once again. Once again, the man, the myth, the legend, drops a dope collection of songs for me to listen to on repeat over and over again.
If you never heard of Relic aka Rel McCoy (shame on you by the way go buy all his albums NOW), I’ll tell you what I know. He’s a hip-hop institution. He’s is simultaneously witty and clever on the mic, insane on the production, and if you need an engineer hit him up at his music studio I’m sure he can make you sound better.
It’s been a little over a year since his last LP- “Miles to Go”, which is one of my favorite albums…ever… And here he is dropping a six song EP, and the title “Golden” fits the project well.
Maintaining excellence, can be one of the hardest aspects of a career in the music industry. there are many excellent albums, but how many folks can consistently put out top quality music time and time again? Not many. The musical backdrop for this EP remains in step with most of his work. Well crafted sample driven loops layered over complex fine tuned drum loops. In this digital age, it’s hard to fine such fresh sounding samples. Rel must dig deep in the crates, I almost never recognize the tracks he chops up for these gems.
Stand out tracks on this piece to me are the title track Golden not because it’s my favorite track, but the synth heavy slowed down production with the female guest vocals on the hook are out of the norm for him and surprising to me it all comes off nicely! My favorite track is A Wink and a Nod- A track about the evils of the industry over a ridiculous beat. This instrumental would be a freestyler’s dream. I’ll stop there, enough praise. There is one big drawback to this EP. There are only six songs. Add this one to your collection if you know what’s good for you.