Flint, Michigan host and producer Jon Connor tunes in for this month’s Artist Yahn Freeman series. He’s been on a roll for the past 20 years, including The Calling, Vinnie Chase and the SOS trilogy, as well as the World’s Finest series that pays homage to some of Jon’s influences, Redemption, While You Were Sleeping and The Unconscious State. He even signed with Aftermath Entertainment for six years before leaving when Vehicle City was eventually shelved, leaving Food for the Soul & 24, produced by No Limit Records’ in-house production team Beats by the Pound’s KLC, and having iRockSays produce the guest-heavy effort.
“High Key” opens with a trap intro about hoes needing an anchor to tell them exactly what their mothers and grandfathers have been saying since they were young, while “I Get’s Down” discusses being born into a system where they try to screw everyone over. Courtney Bell shows up so he and Jon can bring things back to “The Essence” over a soulful beat and then get into the highway talking about how they both just have their balls and “my words.”
The second half begins with “Stay Up”‘s more inspirational lyrics, explaining that pretending to be one will always fail, while “Glory” talks about how everything will be okay as long as he never gives up. “Held High” by
While I’ll personally tell you that last month’s chapter still has the strongest engineering compared to the others, I didn’t get the same enjoyment out of The Artist Yahn Freeman V compared to its Smitti Boi-produced predecessor. I commend him for bringing new producers and more features, even if the number of features is too much.
Rating: 6/10
