KINGS – Chapter One
(DRM NZ)
Reviewed by Kate Taylor.
No pressure for Kings on his release of Chapter One; with a super positive response to his 2016 self titled debut EP, a collection of high-profile international artist support slots and mega love for his work at The Tui’s; it’s awesome to see Kings take his current profile, run with it and create a solid first album to cement his deserving place in New Zealand and global hip hop. Opening the album with Paradise; it’s drenched with delicious optimism on the lyrical repetition of “one day soon I’m gonna get it” and the realness of making the dollar stretch day-to-day as he reaches for recognition. In contrast, on Damage, Kings cries out for his old life, lamenting “fuck this new shit, I miss my old shit”, speaking on the efforts to adjust to new found wealth and fame, with “Shopping sprees in Paris” and his Daughter now learning her “ABC’s” in a private school. Get Money has the braggadocio of an artist that has worked his butt off “I could barely get sleep cause I knew that I’d make it” and the sincerity that although things are going great, he’s worked and worked to get where he is; with a chorus that leans on Deez Nuts “I Hustle Everyday” and Wu Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M”. On Kush Rolled x Cup Filled you receive (as you’d expect…) a massive, high energy club and festival bouncer that’s going to bring that jiggle in the front row with it’s Skrillex adjacent break. Fly Away (Rainbow) is a smoked out, ragga tinged track that glides by solid Kiwi artists like Katchafire, House of Shem or Sons of Zion in terms of similarities of vibe. In the Sun will be a fave for Post Malone fans as it has that loping, chill beat that speaks of blazing out on a lazy summer day as the clouds roll by; while Domino is an introspective beauty cautioning about the effects of “falling when the others fall”, be that on social media or in real life, trying to keep up with or beat #FOMO. An overall melding of Hip Hop, R&B, EDM and some Drum n Bass lite moments; Chapter One doesn’t run into the territory of trying to do and be too much, it just rocks along under it’s own steam as Kings details his sensibilities as he adjusts to all this new fame. Kings has opened up his heart and his rhyme book and given us all of him in this very moment; as he spurs himself on to living more experiences to provide us with a Chapter Two.
