Andrew Kelly - Blemish (EP)
I knew Andrew Kelly was a problem but this big of one? His "Blemish" is ever so present on his latest EP; imagine a drippy abscess cause these records here are honestly his nastiest. The beats are wavy as can be & the wordplay throughout, with his voice & flow & his syllables; he's the complete package. Still, he made some outstanding records here, incorporating an entirely different sound from his previous opus, "Joy." I'm real big on the cover art as well, especially in this day & age; it's important that you have some intriguing artwork & whoever the artist is here, bravo on this avant-garde beauty. I feel it really exemplifies disdain for the blemish; possibly, the one on the left is expressing disgust at Andrew for revealing his blemishes.
On "Hol' Up," the consistent abuse of substances seems to be overtaking him as he's urging her to just go easy on him. Take things a little slower cause the room is spinning & he doesn't want to just vomit all over the place & ruin the night. He wants to have as good a time as everyone else, but this high is a little too immaculate, it seems. I'm not sure the producer behind this introduction record. Still, whoever they are, they did an excellent job at encapsulating Andrew's dizzying tales of debauchery, not to mention his rhymes are ridiculous as ever. One after another, he fires off memorable lines, simple lines even like when he says "fall from the sky like a snowflake," the beat calms back down, which only adds to the elegant musing this soundscape is, a gorgeous start that almost contradicts the title of the project.
On "Xo," it seems Andrew has taken a girl from the club back to his place to further add to what I'm sure was already a good night for her. Her girls are surely jealous she's left the spot with someone as fly as Dru. With banging production that is also dreamily infectious with those flutes in the background, I mean my God, kinda reminds me of the snake charmer he is when he's in his "Rap Guru" bag. This track is like an updated alternate club version to that record; in my opinion, Monte Marko & Teo Domani really did their thing with this one. Kelly is a gargantuan lyrically if you haven't surmised by now & that's ever so present when he's stomping all over "Drawer!." He's a born hustler who will flip anything to his benefit; he stuck his chest out on this one.
His breath control when he's absolutely snapping on "IDGT," an acronym for "I Don't Get That," is intensely impressive. It meshes well with the momentum of the production, courtesy of Monte Marko & Esse Got Dat Heat & also features a verse from DINI859, who added an interestingly wavy vibe to the record. It's always refreshing to hear how two completely different styles sound together. On the final cut, "Preparation," he & Nick Enaigbe, who like Kelly, is just out of here lyrically, which is funny that Kelly states, "fuck being lyrical," which is true, fuck being boxed in as an artist. Kelly proves here that he too can make outstanding records while not sacrificing the skill he so possesses. Still, he won't be subscribed nor labeled to any titles; he's simply a man who puts his hand in any bag he so pleases.