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The Entertainment Lawyer / Rapper Essa (Formerly known as Yungun) is set to release his first album since 2006 “The Misadventures Of A Middle Man”. An album exploring social and cultural issues it delves into topics of religion, race and perception. Although Essa engages in these heavy topics, this album never feels weighed down by them. There is always a charismatic tone to his rhymes and his flow never feels forceful at times it almost feel conversational.
One exceptional track on the album is “Prayers Of A Non-Believer”. The track questions the difference between faith and religion. While he never directly interprets the answer, he presents his stance on the matter and that is something that I can personally relate to. An extremely thoughtful track presented with flow that feels like a spoken word performance.
Other notable tracks on the album include; “Easy”, “Well Spoken”, “Man Enough”, & (the Ta-Ku produced track) “The World Belongs To You”. A personal favourite on the album for me is “Invisible Man”, it’s my style of soul and it’s one of the albums more lighter features.
The production on the album leaves no page unturned. It’s an achieving attempt to have something for everyone. The album manages to maintain a Hip Hop core and dip into Latin rhythms, Grimey beats and there’s even a Baltimore styled track. With production credits from heavy weights such as Australian legend Ta-Ku, UK based Eric Lau and Detroit Soul makers Waajeed and Tall Black Guy.
For an album littered with social intelligence – it remains an easy listen, which I believe is a remarkable accomplishment. With 8 years between major releases, I anticipate that fans of Yungun will easily accept this new album and appreciate its thoughtfulness. If any bone in your body wants to support good conscious Hip Hop – Essa is an artist you should buy into and promote. Hip Hop doesn’t deserve to let an artist like this slip through the cracks for another 8 years.
I give the album an 8 out of 10.
Preorder the album here: