Pilot Talk

Currensy’s third effort came with wider distribution than his earlier two, but rather than act like a second chance at a spotlight debut, Pilot Talk is a featured-filled album with plenty of tracks that will be familiar to anyone who keeps up on their Internet leaks. In other words, it introduces newcomers to the Currensy mixtape experience, which isn’t a bad thing whatsoever. The key cut must be the spacy roller called “King Kong” where the rapper revisits his pilot obsession and talks of swatting them out of the sky with more precision than that ten-story ape (by the mighty “Address” he’s got “Crooks in my neck from watching all the jets”). So many fast and smart rhymes flow out of the man during “Breakfast” that track demands repeat listens and when he sets the flippant tone with “I’m so sorry if I don’t look excited to be here/In your label office, but they said I can’t smoke weed here,” guests Mos Def and Jay Electronica follow suit, making “The Day” a prime candidate for underground rapper anthem of 2010. Much praise must be thrown the way of Ski Beatz, who handles all but two of the tracks here but still comes up with a varied set of productions that are both innovative and infectious. For backpackers and underground fans, it’s a must, but anyone who wants their hip-hop both a bit stranger and a lot deeper will fall hard for this one. ~ David Jeffries

XXL誌の2009年版＜Freshmen 10＞選出で脚光を浴びたNOLA出身のラッパー。そう書くと注目新人っぽいが、彼はタフ・ガイズ→ノー・リミット→キャッシュ・マネーと地元の老舗を渡り歩き、初期ヤング・マネーの一員でもあったわけで、すでに10年以上の活動歴を持つ苦労人なのである。後見するデイモン・ダッシュの采配か、このメジャー進出作は初期ジェイ・Z仕事で知られるスキーがほぼ全曲をプロデュース。ヌルリとした軟体フロウが飴色のサンプリング・ビーツに馴染み、その不思議な温度感がなかなかソウルフルで快い。クール・キッズのマイキーやジェイ・エレクトロニカ、モス・デフといった適役の好演も最高だし、スモークDZAやビッグ・クリットといった次なる有望株の見本市としてもオススメ。
bounce (C)出嶌孝次