Tash is a 54-year-old host from Columbus, Ohio who will move to Los Angeles, California to form Tha Alkaholiks. He eventually released his under-appreciated solo debut, Rap Life, on Loud Records and Columbia Records in the fall of 1999, and followed it up with a second album, Control Freak, a decade later, to a poor reception. Instead, this new EP has been teased for a while, and Catashtraphe has signed with Fat Beats Records to finally release it.
Produced by E-Swift, “Day 2 Day Basis” featuring Styliztik Jones finds the pair rocking out on everyday songs, while the funky title track, remixed by the entire Likwit Crew as well as Q-Tip and will.i.am, talks about the impact of social media. “Shoe Fits” kicks off the second half of the EP, a pointed reminder that the truth will eventually come out, while closing track “Smokin’ Session” talks about smoking marijuana in a mesmerizing way.
Widely regarded as the most lyrically gifted member of Tha Alkaholiks, I’m fairly confident that anyone who was disappointed with Control Freak will enjoy Addiction is a Drug more than Tash’s last LP over a decade ago, and hopefully he’ll be able to go solo again soon. The production is always better than it was in ’09 and I’m really happy that he found the inspiration to keep making music.
Rating: 7/10
