Nick Enaigbe & Dru Kelly - Milligrams (Album)
It’s funny that, as soon as I mention, in my last Kelly review, how much I adore mainstay Nick Enaigbe when it comes to his music, the two come out with a joint project! If you’ve been following Andrew then you’re aware of how, every single time Nick appears on his albums, which he always does, the record usually tends to be the standout, if not at least one of them. Imagine the flak he would get if he were to ever not appear on one of his albums. Thankfully that’ll never happen, at least anytime soon but they’ve doubled down on the fan’s demands & gifted us with 7 monstrous records that really showcase their versatility in amalgamated form. A little brief side note, I’m getting major Breaking Bad vibes from the cover art alone & even these titles are screaming the same so knowing all that, how could you doubt this is to be great?
The sound is already sounding warped once we get into “JUNKIE”, fitting for how dope their contrasting performances are on this opener. The juxtaposition in styles is a beautiful mixture, Andrew has really been having fun toying around with these different styles & executing them so effortlessly at that, music is simply a playground for him at this point to do with as he so pleases. Nick is such a lyrical madman as well, I mean his syllable play is insane if you ain’t know by now. That “goose” line is just, muah. They indeed make this rap thing look easy on “DRUNK WORDS SOBER THOUGHTS”, their rhymes on this one are all over the place yet make complete sense, it’s not just mumbo jumbo. It reminds me of like, a Frank Gallagher speech in the form of a rap record.
What I love though about these records is, they are in no way glorifying drug use, rather touching on their experiences when it comes to the topic. “NEEDLEZ” finds Kelly venting out a lot of his frustrations, this epidemic has affected him closely & not just in him struggling with his own addictions either. The raw conviction he’s speaking with throughout is more than felt. That pain is however immediately alleviated on “ROLL MY WEED”. It’s beautiful to see how universal the good herb has become, the stigma surrounding it seems to have been slowly dissipating & it’s about time these people in power take the sticks out their asses & enjoy the beauty it brings, records like this, that feel this good should be heeded by these people so as to better push their decisions towards legalizing it worldwide.
How we haven’t overdosed yet is beyond me, especially after downing “MR. BIGSHOT”. The liquor is clearly taking over on this number as the two are dizzying as ever with the rhymes. More introspection on “KIDS WE USED TO BE” as they dwell on the innocence lost. What they would give to go back to those simpler times but they know forward is the only path available so instead of running from it, they embrace who they are, whether people like it or not, we all got our vices. I sense a bit of survivors guilt with both of them on this number & I completely understand, it’s rough seeing your loved ones slip further & further down these abysmal places we’ve once been in but we’re fortunate enough to climb out of. It’s not like they haven’t done everything in their power prevent it but most people want to keep you down, as they touch on with “CAPSULES”, a beautifully haunting way to end this project. It’s like, Andrew took on the role of death while Nick takes on the role of life, people are so quick to judge us based off of our vices, treating us like we’re brain dead when our minds are very much still intact, as proven throughout the self awareness on this record.