Kansas City, Mo. emcee Joey Cool is working on his eighth studio LP as a double-disc. Starting out as a long-time affiliate of local indie hip-hop powerhouse Strange Music, he released a total of 4 mixtapes and one studio album on his own until 2017 when Tech N9ne decided to officially sign with Snake & Bat, who subsequently released a A self-titled second album followed the following spring, followed by “Old Habits Die Hard” and “Coolie High & I Tried to Be Normal Once.” However, after “Board of Directors” and the Mario Casalini-produced “With a View,” this most stylish of “Strange Places” is taking us on a roller coaster ride.
After the “Poor Sinner’s Hand” intro, first song “Madhouse” gets the roller coaster going, with atmospheric trap instrumentals talking about Satan making him break down, while “Commotion” has a more robotic beat that makes Joey break down, that’s who he is created. Interestingly, “Heart” starring Doobie and produced by C-Lance has a weird trap sound where he can drop a bag and it will still follow him because he looks like he won the lottery but then gloomily “Out the Way” begins to speak of surgical action rather than kindness.
“Drippin’ 3” explosively picks up where “Drippin’ 2” from Swank Sinatra’s mixtape left off, reuniting with Mario Casalini and telling everyone to catch him out there, while “Indecisive” “The gorgeous performance draws inspiration from the hyphy scene described by the music. “Trouble Town” by Lil Wyte features guitars and hi-hats that hint at setting the world on fire, as just before “GiveThanks” by The Popper, both KC trolls sing praises over a thunderous trap beat of higher power.
The 5th and final single “OG Cool” closes out Disc 1, with Wyshmaster striding through his zone on rubbery instrumentals with Joey, and after the “Price of Admission” intro, “GOYF (Get Out of Your Feelings)” )” and X-Raided begins Disc 2 with piano and hi-hats from two Strange Music artists, telling everyone who listens should do the same. “I Sent the Text” is a decent, auto-tuned heavy pop-rap ensemble, which means no disrespect to the woman he’s texting, and the song is built around that, while “Static” marks a dynamic trap twist, likening it to the sum of all his powers.
“Parlez Vous” is an organ/hi-hat crossover that preaches the gospel, while “Vibe Check” bills itself as a leader in more hyphy production. On Ubiquitous’ “Sail Away,” the pair tried to take his time with guitar/trap fusion, while on “The Fuse,” he’s on the verge of a horn explosion. “Slow Down” smoothly tells his girl to take things slow in their relationship, even if he’s not as rich as she thinks, while “Crawl Space” features Tech N9ne with a trap metal closer Feeling at the edge of reaching the end of the journey.
Joey gave us a deluxe version of all 8 bonus tracks on what is undoubtedly the most important work of his career, Enjoy the View, back in March and no doubt they could have made it into the final product, a few weeks ago celebrated its one year anniversary, but either way it was a terrible way to hold us back until he took us on a rollercoaster ride filled with the level of skill you would expect from an elite MC Expect all the twists and turns and ups and downs.
Score: 7/10
