Kensei – Weapon E.S.P
01. The Dokōddō
02. Zazen
03. Kensei
04. Death of Kojirō f. Yo Daddy Doe
05. Kaneshige
06. Reigandō Cave f. Death Over Simplicity & Ghost of the Machine
07. The Way
08. Mind of Musashi
09. The Void f. Wordsworth & Haze
10. Ganryū Island
The Samurai theme hip hop fusion, you couldn’t have gotten me any more on board. Out the gate if this production doesn’t get you, then this is not the genre for you. The samples, drums, variety, all of it was fucking dope, it’d be impossible to be wack on this. Then you have all the golden age rah rah raps on this. As much as I am a fan of the gruff cadence, that doesn’t change regardless of what production its on, the variety of beats on this made me need a little bit of contrast. The raps aren’t bad, you got wordplay, bars, themes, and dope flows for sure that work with the beats, but again the beats were so dope that a little bit more animation, cadences or flows would have really sent this one to the sky but it does have its share of hooks, solid features and such that I don’t want to completely disregard. The golden era would have rocked with this at minimum in the mid tier. Throw this on, with a North Face for this winter. In rotation.
Project: 8.2/10 || Art: 10/10 – John D.