Besides his unspeakably massive cannabis consumption, Curren$y is best known for his incredible prolificacy. Since leaving Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money label in 2008, he has released nine album-length mixtapes and four full albums, whose subject matter rarely deviated from typical independent rap trope: weed, fly kicks, and fucking.
The man knows his niche. Pilot Talk II, his second album on Bluroc, the label run by former Jay-Z business partner and Roc-a-Fella founder Dame Dash, is filled with nothing but more weed talk and raps about limited-edition Jordans.
But as anyone from Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Waka Flocka Flame can teach us, it’s not what you say—it’s how cool you sound when you say it. No one is better at turning the banal into boasts than Curren$y—with an easy, limber flow, he writes about stuff like sitting in his rocking chair and going to Waffle House. At one point, he brags about taking a nap.
His long discography is often marred by horrible beat selection (one of the pitfalls of being perpetually blazed), but this time, he has found a comfortable musical complement in Ski Beatz, who produced most of the album and suits his brand of breezy cockiness. The disc grooves with fat organs, crisp live drums, woozy sax lines and thick, overdriven guitars.
But as the album’s second half is dragged down with clunkers like “Silence” and “O.G.,” it’s hard not to wish he’d spend a bit more time on his releases. He records at a torrid pace—the first Pilot Talk came out barely six months ago and suffered from the same unevenness; the third installment of the series is already scheduled to drop in March.
But for someone who ostensibly spends most of his time inhaling bong rips and playing NBA Live, just getting an album recorded is a feat. The fact that these albums are consistently good is downright impressive. So while Pilot Talk II has a few tracks that come off as half-baked, the album as a whole proves that Curren$y is a force to be reckoned with.
Voice’s Choices: “Airborne Aquarium,” “Montreux,” “Famous”
