Boom Bap Beards Destroy: Review: Curren$y

Curren$y’s The Stoned Immaculate is being prefaced as Spitta Andretti’s first major label release, and the sheen of a major’s money can be gleaned from the diversity of producers and featured artists. Previous releases have found him working with two producers at the most, typically Monsta Beatz and Ski Beatz, but The Stoned Immaculate boasts 13 producers for the Deluxe Edition’s 16 tracks, including production juggernauts The Neptunes and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League as well as contributions from regulars like Monsta Beatz. As for the features, there is the usual cast (Wiz Khalifa and Big K.R.I.T., as well as Jet Life Recording artists Smoke DZA, Corner Boy P, Trademark da Skydiver and Young Roddy), but also major label signifiers like Estelle, Pharrell, Wale and the ever featuring 2 Chainz. Despite these changes in the supporting cast, Curren$y has produced an album that both lives up to the major label expectations of accessibility while remaining true to the laid back grind he started in 2008 with mixtapes like Higher than 30,000 Feet.

In the past four years Spitta has released roughly 20 projects, be it mixtapes, EPs or independently released albums. His prolific pace alone has made him a point of contention, an argument of flooding the market but also perfect utilization of internet social marketing that caters to listeners short attention spans. What these releases represent though is a singular vision, coined “life style rap” by Curren$y: a laid back, smoked out and jazzy world informed by weed, women and cars with the occasional sports reference. All of this amounts to a monument of an independent man using independent money to make independent money. The Stoned Immaculate in a way represents a compromise; the signs of major influence are present on the album but the record also represents an artist indulging in the privileges of major label money rather than conceding.

The album opens with Wale’s feature on “What It Look Like”, for which he also sings the hook. The idea of Wale opening the album is interesting because Wale represents the way in which rap artists are compromised by the majors. In making the move from an independent artist to a major label roster, Wale lost all of the wit and consciousness in his raps that established him on projects like The Mixtape About Nothing. After about 2 minutes of Wale’s boastful yet agile lines, Spitta makes his first appearance after vocally looking for his lighter. Over shimmering cords bolstered by a simple back beat, Curren$y delivers the same product he’s been pushing since 2008 while simultaneously dismissing any doubts in his credibility: “The engine in back of my car / I'm clearly in a different tax bracket now, dog / Mainstream cheese but I ain't acting like y'all”. The first track sets the tone for and best illustrates a dichotomy played out on The Stoned Immaculate, it confronts the pitfalls of a major label record while also featuring an artist remaining true to his grind. Wale represents how not to while Curren$y provides a briefing on how to.

The Stoned Immaculate is easily Spitta’s most accessible and commercial album to date. Tracks like “What It Look Like”, “Take You There” featuring Marsha Ambrosius, and “That’s the Thing” featuring Estelle could easily be radio hits. With that concession in mind though those songs also feature what fans have come to expect lyrically. Most of the tracks could easily fit into his back catalogue. But as an album it provides a level of diversity and variety that has been lacking in the past. Curren$y is most certainly a talented rapper but at times his works can feel monotonous: the same flow over similarly hazy beats. Though this routine has established a movement, Jet Life; it is not always fully entertaining.

“Capitol” featuring 2 Chainz showcases a particularly inspired Spitta; his delivery has the usual level of lackadaisicalness but a bit of switch up in his flow’s pace comes as a welcome change. 2 Chainz’s of course delivers the usual entertaining and slightly memorable lines. All of this is over a melodic and jazzy beat that is suitably smoked out and subdued. Despite the big feature, the track could fit snuggly onto any previous release. And for the most part this could easily be said about the majority of the album with only “No Squares” featuring Wiz Khalifa, with its sinister synths and rolling drum beat, and “Chasin’ Paper” featuring Pharrell, with its auto-tuned soul sample over a militant tinny beat, standing at odds with Spitta’s repertoire.

The advantages of Warner Bros. backing come to full fruition on the tracks “Chasin’ Papers”, “That’s the Thing” and “Fast Cars Faster Women”. “Chasin’ Papers” featuring Pharrell and produced by The Neptunes gives the listener a different sonic backdrop for Curren$y, and this change comes with a great result. Not only does he find that usual sweet spot of riding tightly to the beat but also drops some signature, memorable word play, “Chasin’ that paper like it stole something of mine / It did though, friends killed over small bills / I still go / Hard, spittin’ for them”. The change in scenery is refreshing and a bit of palette cleanser on the ninth track. This is followed by “That’s the Thing” featuring Estelle which is the most Pop oriented track on the album and the most radio friendly. Despite these two facts, which could be seen as draw backs, the track is a great execution of what could be deemed Pop Rap. Many Rappers have gone down this path with disastrous and dissatisfying results, while Spitta has instead delivered a catchy song that relies heavily on his skills as a rapper to ground the track. However Estelle does steal the show; her soulful effervescent croon is after all the most memorable part of the song.

“Fast Cars Faster Women”, featuring and produced by Daz Dillinger, combines the smoked out style that has come to be expected but with a decidedly West coast slant in the beats supporting instrumentation. Daz also delivers what is far and above the best feature of the whole album, not overshadowing Spitta but instead maintaining the level of talent, keeping the song even keel. Giving the listener two talented MCs dropping burly bars. Daz Dillinger’s presence also reaffirms that new utilities at Curren$y’s disposal. As he explained in an interview with HipHopDX, “I tried to find Daz a few timeson Twitter but that didn’t really work out. One time in a meeting with Warner[Bros. Records] I brought up his name and asked them to try find Daz for me. Acouple days after the meeting I got his e-mail and we smoked, burned it down,made sure everything was cool and did some work.”

“Showroom”, produced by Cardo, is another example of a well executed update on Curren$y’s sound. The production simultaneously combines laid back jazz with some flutes, a persistent digital twirl and a sinister synth that comes and goes. The track builds and falls: a jazzy smooth beat the only constant, then the occasional digital twirl, and finally the build of a menacing snyth which then all falls away to just leave that smoked out groove and woodwinds. Then on top of this Curren$y spits what could be considered a synthesis of his ideals, a biography and a Jet Life manifesto:

“Show them better than I can tell em they gon' feel me / Niggas I came up with changing up say they gone kill me / If they ever catch me slipping / I dont give a fuck, sincerely / I know they just emotional, they love me, they fear me / They like my women, they see me steering, wish they was in it / Jealousy, just feeding em negative energy / I put my hands together praying for my friend-emies / Only let paper chasers dwell in this vicinity / Can't violate the JET code without penalty / Even family get let go "Fredo, you killing me" / I work hard, bloggers thinking that it's 10 of me / Dropping record after record like them bitches slippery / I like nice shit and I know how to get it / Hustle dumbass, it's not rocket science or Quantum Physics”

The album closes out as a return to form of sorts. After the diversity that proceeds the last few tracks, beginning with “Jet Life” featuring Wiz Khalifa and producer Big K.R.I.T. and including the bonus tracks “Audio Dope 3”, “One More Time” and “J.L.R.” featuring Jet Lifers Smoke DZA and Young Roddy, Curren$y delivers the sort of music that got him to where he is today. The bonus tracks really help in achieving this feat; instead of feeling tacked on, the extra tracks bring the album full circle.

The Stoned Immaculate is by no means a perfect record. It may not even survive what could only be predicted as a monsoon of future releases from Curenn$y (currently I know of at least three planned releases that may come out this year: a sequel to Covert Coup with producer The Alchemist, Cigarette Boats with producer Harry Fraud and the third installment of the Pilot Talk series). However as a major label release it successfully balances commercial responsibilities and artistic integrity. It is also the most thematically diverse album he has released to date; the tracks are sequenced in a way that keeps each song fresh and avoids tedium. It has everything that long time listeners have come to expect but broadens the boarders to provide an excellent introduction and listening experience for the uninitiated. Curren$y conquers the dichotomy that comes with being a rapper on a major label, more so indulging in the major’s money rather than letting it rule.