Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee OT the Real has been busy outside of Show No Mercy, bringing us his tenth solo record. His popularity began to grow nearly a decade ago after he came home from prison and released his debut single “Papercuts,” starting out in the underground, showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping his last 9 albums as well as mixtapes and 9 EPs. My favorites are the third EP “The Irishman” produced by Heatmakerz and the third album “Broken Glass” produced by DJ Green Lantern (released on my 25th birthday) and Maxed Out produced by Statik Selektah. Regardless, “Desperate of December,” “It’s Also Over” and “Red Summer” were all hit and miss for me until OT finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records and solicited araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. “Prepare for War” and “Pale Horse” are okay, Moving Base OT’s self-titled debut is an improvement, as is the Nickel-plated production of “Cost of Living” and “The Devil You Know.” 38 Spesh made the most of his ball control with Intent, Chop-La-Rok showed the war I won with Rare Scrilla, and the villains are back.
“750” works with a synth-driven boom beat so he can talk about his return, while “Evil Eye” uses instrumentals to dial up the suspense in hopes of deepening the possibilities, although leaving an open verse on the back end feels a little incomplete. “Sent Out” warns everyone when he stumbles over the spit-but-killing shit that leads to “The Bad Guy” talking about his willingness to be the villain people want him to be.
On the song “Silent,” we’re OT over some prominent piano chords that suggest the fun to be had if anyone happened to walk into the same room as him, while “Gary V,” featuring Flames Dot Malik, angrily puts himself in the shoes of a drug dealer halfway through. “Mint Leaves” starts skipping more buttons in the second half, talking about the shit surrounding his character, right before “Mr. Ozempic” brags about the nickname he earned through losing weight.
SKNJ’s “BOTRA (Back On The Run Again)” finds the pair in a tie for third place, despite OT having the better verse, while “FTS (Feed The Streets)” talks hungrily about his ongoing artistic hunger, despite the fact that he continues to put out music at a prolific pace. “Strike,” featuring Murkemz, spends a few minutes spitting out gritty verses without any hooks, while the album ends by talking about the “last” time we’ll see a villain like him.
Admittedly: I wasn’t the biggest fan of No Mercy from earlier this year, but Villain is sure to appeal to anyone who enjoyed Who Are You Dine With or The Cost of Living and The Devil You Know, because real people usually nail it whenever he locks in a nickel. Even if the guest list may be a little inconsistent, it’s much darker than all of the previously mentioned output, from the production to the antagonistic lyricism.
Rating: 7/10
