Buffalo emcee and singer Elcamino is busy working on his third EP and his 17th record in 2024. He rose to fame in 2017 with the release of his self-titled EP with Griselda Records, followed by the release of the Walking on Water mixtape in the summer of 2018, and 2 studio albums and several EPs the following year. Visibility continues to grow. “They Spit Jesus” proved to be a critically acclaimed debut for Black Soprano Family Records, becoming the first Camino project I’d covered since “The Third Day” like “No Weapon Formed Against Me” Again, an improvement on some of the material we already had. Six months later, Real Bad Man produced “The Game is the Game,” followed by Ill Tone’s recent “Onlybuilt 4 Cuban Linx,” named after Raekwon’s iconic solo debut “Built for Cuban Links.” Produced by RZA, Meech hopes to start showcasing his millionaire status in the last quarter of the year.
“Money Mayweather” sets the tone with its lush boom-bap instrumental and lyrics that attempt to spark a head-on storm, while “Chill Lord” gives off a psychedelic dusty vibe that feels more like a genuine song. A song, not an episode. “Paid in Full” mixes kick and snare drums with some vibraphone samples, acknowledging that at least 10 people in Griselda’s camp had gotten rich before “Gambino Family” skipped elegant beats in search of big business.
Picking up the EP’s final leg, “The Gold Elephant” returns to boom beats with more soulful shine, letting you all know what this rap shit can do for you as he finally comes out after a few years of neglect Eating on the Beat On “Maybach Muzik” I definitely felt inspired by Rick Ross, who had El Camino talking about craving more from his youth. “Wu Level” ends “Millionaire” on a drumless note, featuring a crooning sample and discussion of not being angry about your own personal decisions.
Camino has been teasing Millionaire for the past 3 weeks or so, and just a month after being built for Cuban Links, I do hear some improvements from him compared to the EP he gave us back in September, although I quite like it And probably my second most popular EP out of the three EPs we got from him was The Game. The production continues to balance boom bap and no drums so El Camino can depict the gangster lifestyle in just 16 minutes.
Rating: 7/10