This is the 3rd full-length album from Queens emcee Grafh. Coming up in 2003 off his debut mixtape The Bang Out, he went on to release 7 more tapes before dropping his first full-length album Autografh only a few years later continuing that with a total of another 10 mixtapes & an EP. But as his sophomore effort Stop Calling Art Content produced entirely by the late DJ Shay & released through Benny the Butcher’s very own MNRK Music Group imprint Black Soprano Family Records turns 2 this fall, Grafh is enlisting 38 Spesh this time around to discuss the Art of Words backed by TCF Music Group
“Life’s the Same” is a symphonic boom bap opener with Grafh remind everyone of the fact that time’s passing us all by at an incredibly fast rate & it ain’t waiting on on a single soul out there whereas “Rain Falls” with Conway the Machine finds the 2 telling their mothers to pray for them. Bun B & Stove God Cook$ both come into the picture for the jazzy “Life’s Beautiful” to talk about the beautiful things that this life has to offer leading into Dave East tagging along for “Every Day” over some kicks & snares letting ‘em know this be daily shit for them.
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Moving on to “Maggie Simpson”, we have Giggs accompanying Grafh over an operatic boom bap instrumental repping the sick out in Queens & the real ones Kingston just before “Already” weaves some pianos so dude can talk about how people already know what the deal is. “Goin’ Up” has a slicker tone sonically addressing the glow up, but then “Finesse” with Rome Streetz returns to the boom bap as both MCs let y’all know how bossy they are. The penultimate track “Dirty Work” has a despondent sound explaining someone’s gotta get their hands grubby & “36 Chambers” by grimily getting on his Wu-Tang shit.
Stop Calling Art Content quickly surpassed Autografh in quality to become my favorite body of work throughout Grafh’s ever-growing discography & there’s no way that anyone can tell me Art of Words isn’t up there too. Spesh’s production is as raw as the late DJ Shay’s was on the last album that we got from the Queens lyricist a year & a half ago on top of the man with the pen himself making hip hop meet art.
Score: 9/10