{"id":7705,"date":"2021-08-22T10:10:48","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/?p=7705"},"modified":"2021-08-22T10:10:48","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:10:48","slug":"review-boldy-james-the-alchemist-bo-jackson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/22\/review-boldy-james-the-alchemist-bo-jackson\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: BOLDY JAMES &amp; THE ALCHEMIST &#8211; Bo Jackson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2020, despite the world being on fire, one rapper was grinding hard with not one or two but 4 LPs released that year (each under a different producer), and that rapper is Boldy James. He&#8217;s a Detroit rapper who has garnered much attention from releases like <em>The Versace Tape<\/em> (with producer Jay Versace), <em>Real Bad Boldy (<\/em>with Real Bad Man), and <em>Manger on McNichols<\/em> with (Sterling Toles), but of course the project that won me over was the one produced by The Alchemist with <em>The Price of Tea in China<\/em>. His 2020 wasn&#8217;t too shabby either between that and his critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated album <em>Alfredo<\/em> with Freddie Gibbs\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">(and they should&#8217;ve won that award but that&#8217;s another story), even continuing<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> into in 2021 with their recent team-up with Armand Hammer, <\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Haram<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Now, they&#8217;re teaming up again for another project entitled <em>Bo Jackson,<\/em> and in case you&#8217;re like me and wondering who that is if you&#8217;re not much of a sports nerd, he&#8217;s a pro-baseball and football player from Bessemer, Alabama who often says &#8216;Bo Jackson&#8217; every time on his tracks. Now going in knowing more about Boldy James and his style as well as looking at the track list with features including Earl Sweatshirt, Roc Marciano among others, I was highly anticipating this, especially with the singles &#8220;First 48 Freestyle&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Drug Zone&#8221; which&#8230; oddly enough are the closing tracks of the album.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"747\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UVssTy2Dccw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Now going in this album, I knew what content to expect from Boldy at this point. He&#8217;s a story teller going into detail about his daily life and the environment around him, and the way he delivers it is always nonchalant and unbothered. Of course, with it being named <em>Bo Jackson<\/em>, there are some sports references in there as well.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On the H-E-double hockey sticks, we keep a strig<br \/>\nWhen it come to creature biz, I make sure I keep in touch with papi bricks<br \/>\nBruno my consigliere, from the craft to the roll<br \/>\nUsed to put that bag on the road, now it&#8217;s in the air<br \/>\nLast don of a dyin&#8217; breed, real niggas rare<br \/>\nLouboutin sneaks, got at least twelve differ\u0435nt pairs<br \/>\nIce wires, diamonds cuttin&#8217; up like I&#8217;m Mik\u0435 Myers<br \/>\nGotta shoot it up in front of me, the first time buyers<br \/>\nDrug zone, 7-6, dead zone 49ers<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Double Hockey Sticks&#8221; was a great start to the album, and the way the beat switch came later on was a chef&#8217;s kiss of beat switches, just excellent overall. Then come in the coke rap bars on tracks like &#8220;EPMD&#8221; (strangely enough the third time this year there&#8217;s been a track named after the hip hop duo), and &#8220;Brickmile to Montana&#8221; with returning feature Benny The Butcher delivering the business as always.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Photographic Memories&#8221; has an excellent sample loop that carries this eerie, mournful vibe that made for my one of my favorite instrumentals of the album, and the guest verses from Earl Sweatshirt and Roc Marciano added to it being my favorite track on the project, remembering vivid memories of how some deals will go or even depression.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"747\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oGP7rMOG7RU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a class=\"ReferentFragment__ClickTarget-oqvzi6-0 iFcdSA\" href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/23723599\/Boldy-james-and-the-alchemist-photographic-memories\/Niggas-winnin-grammys-now\"><span class=\"ReferentFragment__Highlight-oqvzi6-1 dTRZdO\">Niggas winnin&#8217; Grammys now<\/span><\/a>, five star livin&#8217;<br \/>\nOn the 5 South, jammin&#8217; out,\u00a0<a class=\"ReferentFragment__ClickTarget-oqvzi6-0 iFcdSA\" href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/23724417\/Boldy-james-and-the-alchemist-photographic-memories\/Heisman-magic-stickin-out-an-arm-and-they-standin-down\"><span class=\"ReferentFragment__Highlight-oqvzi6-1 eZruqd\">Heisman magic<br \/>\nStickin&#8217; out an arm and they standin&#8217; down<\/span><\/a>, cram it in<br \/>\nStamp and send the package out, Jackson style<br \/>\nSomething wicked inbound, fast<br \/>\nWind whippin&#8217; up disasters in the distant clouds<br \/>\nHit the basement, the moon full at its roundest<br \/>\nWolves howlin&#8217;, cleared up a couple counts<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Broke generational curses with my cursive (Yup)<br \/>\nI understand the game and I know all of the inner workings (I do)<br \/>\nThe pain run deep, you only see what it is on the surface<br \/>\nMy bitch in there squeaky-clean, but the work was sittin&#8217; in her cervix (Boofed it)<br \/>\nFor all the dirt, we might need detergent for cleanin&#8217; purpose<br \/>\nBloody money in the machine circlin&#8217;, the precursor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The rest of the album has a solid, healthy list of features such as Stove God Cooks doing the chorus and intro on &#8220;Diamond Dallas&#8221;, with the production having that dusty blues aesthetic. We get a mini Fetti reunion with the track &#8220;Fake Flowers&#8221; where Boldy, Curren$y and Freddie Gibbs do their sets of bars on here with that lavish, stylish Alchemist production, and the way Freddie starts out his verse. (Ha, I&#8217;m so proud, haha, yeah, <a class=\"ReferentFragment__ClickTarget-oqvzi6-0 iFcdSA\" href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/23739653\/Boldy-james-and-the-alchemist-fake-flowers\/Nigga-fuck-them-kids\"><span class=\"ReferentFragment__Highlight-oqvzi6-1 eZruqd\">nigga, fuck them kids<\/span><\/a> \/ I ain&#8217;t your mentor or your role model).<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of The Alchemist, his production game on here shines so much from the way he use samples and looping to the sequencing on said production that transition in the song to the next, it&#8217;s quite amazing. Another track I think has some great production on here is &#8220;Illegal Search and Seizure,&#8221; and that was another favorite track on here,\u00a0 with the only problem I had being that I wanted more of the song.<\/p>\n<p>I went back to <em>The Price of Tea in China<\/em> a lot when it came out and gave either the whole album or certain individual tracks a lot of re-listens (yes, that included the deluxe version of that which was 4 extra tracks, 16 in total, so it wasn&#8217;t bloated as many rap deluxe albums nowadays), and I dug a lot of those songs from front to back. With this one&#8230; I can&#8217;t rule that out yet but I know that I&#8217;m definitely feeling this album, having given it a lot of listens since it first came out. It&#8217;s more of what I liked about the last album of theirs, from the content of the bars to the unique production that shines throughout, the <em>Bo Jackson\u00a0<\/em>LP is another solid piece of underground hip-hop that excellently executes what it&#8217;s doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>FINAL VERDICT:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><strong>Buy It.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><em>It&#8217;s a home run! Or a touchdown! I&#8217;m using sports analogies to say this album is great.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"747\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/61wtT8Jfmog?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>BO JACKSON is available on digital download and streaming services. You can also purchase the album via <a href=\"https:\/\/alcrecords.com\/products\/bo-jackson-digital-album\">ALC Records site.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2020, despite the world being on fire, one rapper was grinding hard with not one or two but 4 LPs released that \n<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/22\/review-boldy-james-the-alchemist-bo-jackson\/\"> [...]<\/a>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"yes","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"MusicRecording","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[1066,1608,1607,1541,503,295,18,1458,1606],"class_list":["post-7705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-album","tag-alc-records","tag-bo-jackson","tag-boldy-james","tag-hip-hop","tag-rap","tag-review","tag-the-alchemist","tag-underground"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/https___images.genius.com_f6ddb44b0e4a140c3f908dc60c9267dd.1000x1000x1.jpg?fit=504%2C504&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8GYHU-20h","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7705"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7711,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7705\/revisions\/7711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}