Ben Reilly - Freelance: Charlie (Album)
The media continues to be abstract on the follow up to last year’s “Freelance” which if you know then you know & “Charlie” expands upon that. Opening up with another No Strings installment, he reflects upon his growth with “My Window”, whereas last time, the birds were fluttering above his head, now the baby bird has left his nest & is ready to venture off into the world. The imagery he paints here is marvelously mystical, the instrumentation plays an integral part in that with it’s swaying chirps & chimes, back & forth like a pendulum. There’s so many lines to take from this opening verse alone, a lot of free game many should heed, their reach would be a lot less steeper, brilliant wordplay.
Everybody has an “Agenda”, his is to keep pushing these birds, this dope music of his that is. The way he’s incorporating the theme of birds, particularly red ones, such as the cardinal resting on his finger, it’s quite the unique theme to use. He takes this moment to talk his talk, humility is out the window. He’s in a lane all his own but even he finds it effortless to shift gears & Tokyo drift into a much more nitrous driven flow once he collides us into the next half of the track like a crash test dummy. His ferocity is pure inertia. The versatility is already impeccable 3 tracks in, basically 4 after last but I digress, as does he on the soulful dusty loops of “Charlie Charlie”. His testimonies over this are ever so poignant & the lyrical performance of it all is sure to have the Holy Ghost taking over you.
The transitions of these records, they just bleed into one another perfectly & his ear for production continues to be impressing me as much as his rhymes over them. There’s so much to digest as his flow just cuts through the production but it also flows perfectly with it at the same time. The congregation is sure to be hopping to this one, the piano that builds up before the hook coupled with the futuristically vintage distortions, really help his lyrics ease into your soul, regardless of how fast they’re just coming at you. It wouldn’t be a project of his without having his brothers in Abstract Media contributing in any way he can fit them in. The production here really adds onto his fears, he’s not eager to be falling in love but it seems he’s head over heels for this person, something he never expected, he thought he was far past crushing over someone but that’s love for you, always hitting you when you least expect it & choosing to take that leap with someone new, especially if you haven’t loved in a while for whatever reason, can be a scary feat to free fall from but he seems willing on the final half of this poignant number.
He’s desperate for her love & attention but is self aware to know not to act on these emotions. The theme of birds continues with “Clipped”, she is the one who keeps him grounded fore his journey has been a rough & emotional one. He’s chirping out, a beautiful metaphor for crying out for her aid. It’s a beautiful ode to letting go for good. Things seem rather hopeful after that with “Brand New Free”, he’s finally doing for himself & it’s yielding some very fly results for the kid! He’s only doing what he had to do, it’s not like he was given a choice, people kept pushing him to this point. The constant beat switches throughout this record are some of the nastiest you’ll hear, trust me. Closing with one more No Strings installment, he reinforces the thought to “Look Out Below”, reflects on life up to this point, all the shit he’s had to just let go, though he ponders why he didn’t do something at the time, he’s at his peak though so he knows it’s not worth it, he’d rather just “Leave”, leave these people to be the thorns that they are, the cardinal is off to more flowery meadows.