The Bronx, NY veteran AG has hired Boston, MA producer Stu Bangas for his seventh solo record. Best known as 1/2 of Showbiz & AG and a member of the group DITC, he made his solo debut in 1998 with The Dirty Version and returned eight years later with sophomore album Get Dirty Radio. He has since released Everything’s Berri, The Taste of AMBrosia, Always Protect the King, NYLUV and Giant in the Mental, some of which I personally prefer. However, when Stu’s involvement was announced, I already knew that $ € £ ₣ ¥ had a good chance of becoming a hit.
“Borderline,” a collaboration between D-Flow and Diamond D, opens up shop angrily, lyrically talking about how no one is better than them, while Diamond D features one of my favorite cameos from the duo, and “Get It Going” continues to offer words of wisdom from there. “Creatures” builds a booming rhythm over the instrumentation so he can unapologetically spit out hardcore lyricism before Cory Gunz appears on the hypnotic “Replicant” to talk the naked truth about clothing.
The first half ended with “Skywalker” using Cloud as a stepping stone to try and create an unsettling trap vibe, while “She liked to dress up so I copied her,” recalling his original nickname reminiscent of the late WWE Hall of Famer, shortest reigning WWE Champion and former WWE Tag Team Champion Andre the Giant. “Suspense,” which features Prince Julius, is a more leisurely cut that makes people disappear with just one line.
“All These Things All These People” is an outrageous talk about coming from an era where you couldn’t rap without writing and going to all sorts of different places, while “Really Rapping” encourages people to ask his crew if he’s limiting or taking his rhymes seriously. “Real Hip Hop” ends the album with a booming bap outro with a hook that ironically samples KRS-One’s “Ova Here,” which would have been Afrika Bambaataa’s 69th birthday, but I digress.
Much of AG’s solo material over the past 16 years has been average at best, so on paper $ € £ ₣ ¥ it looked like it would reach the same level of quality that The Dirty Version and Get Dirty Radio achieved decades ago. Thankfully, my expectations were met, as a lot of it was enjoyable for me regardless. His pen and Stu Bangas’ production combine to create the strongest sound he’s sounded since all of his earlier full-lengths (a few individual guests aside).
Score: 8/10
