Curren$y is definitely a main-stay in the rap game. He's one of the few rappers who remains underground, but is still able to touch the mainstream without backlash from fans. He says it best himself on “What It Look Like”: “mainstream cheese, but I ain't actin' like y'all.” That's the truth.
The Stoned Immaculate was the Jet Life General's first album released on a major label, so fans were worried that he'd loose his unique sound and, as they say, “go commerical.” Not to worry though! The Stoned Immaculate is pure Spitta, you can see his figurative fingerprints all over it. Honestly, as a Curren$y fan, it's not my favorite Spitta album, I've always like what he did on Pilot Talk and Pilot Talk II the most. However, this is a strong effort that still clings to his signature sound, with a lot of smooth beats. For that reason, I'm sure any Curren$y fan will enjoy it, and perhaps even those who weren't fans of the Hot Spitta before (after all, his goal was to broaden his fanbase with a major label debut).
The album kicks off with Wale's voice
on “What It Look Like.” I don't really understand why he decided
to open the album with Wale's voice, let alone that song; that was
one of my very few annoyances with the album. From there we get into
“Privacy Glass” which has Spitta on his lyrical and story-telling
ish. I've always enjoyed Curren$y's attention to detail, and he
delivers that on this album. It's not only that he pays close
attention to the construction of his rhymes, but he has descriptive
lyrics about the little things in life. Sometimes it's just regular,
everyday shit that he spits about, but he knows how to put those
words together.
The beats are typical Curren$y. They are lush and chill, many laced with horns and piano keys. The fact that he worked with many different producers, which he doesn't usually do, was to his advantage. There's more variation in the beats than usual for Spitta.
The content is also true to Curren$y. Fans will expect not only songs they can smoke too, but songs about smoking. Of course, Spitta delivers on that front, however, we get more than just weed talk from this notorious weed rapper. Marijuana tid-bits are sprinkled throughout the album, but that is not the focus.
“Sunroof” is one of those strong, horn-filled beats and it may be obvious from the title that it's on some car talk. However, Spitta has the ability to make a person who is completely clueless about cars still feel comfortable and enjoy his music. He has that same ability when he's bragging-- he's not one of those rappers that comes across as egotistical and annoying with his bravado talk.
“That's The Thing” featuring Estelle finds Curren$y rapping about a woman in a way we don't usually hear. He's being really honest and realistic about his situation with the girl, telling her he understands if she leaves but he doesn't want her too. It's refreshing to hear Spitta in this way.
From there we get into another dope track “Chandelier,” also containing some women-related raps. But you're not hearing the same story twice. On one of Spitta's ad-libs during the song he says “real life sitations,” and that really stuck with me as the best description of Spitta. He is on some real life situation shit. He could be your weed-smoking neighbour or something. You just want to chill and smoke a joint with him. Even if he's telling you that he's better than you, 'cause he's got however many cars and all these hoes, he still sounds like a chill dude.
The Stoned Immaculate is definitely a good album, however, it doesn't seem like a career-changing album. That is to say, Spitta has remained the Jet Life advocate we've come to know and love, and he delivers as we've come to expect he will. He has proven he can do it big by linking up with a major record label, but we also know that he can do it independent and still kill it. We can only hope that now he'll be killing it in bigger ways with help from Warner Bros and his own Jet Life Recordings label.
Purchase it on iTunes if you haven't already.