Album: Fly International Luxurious Art
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Producers: Various
First Listen: At the beginning of Fly International Luxurious Art, Raekwon finds himself unable to fly to Abu Dhabi because his passport is full. Fans surround him, cameras flash, and the album kicks off with "4 in the Morning" featuring Ghostface. Chef Raekwon takes the first two verses before letting Ghostface off the leash to spit furious rhymes over the big drums and two-note nervous piano that build the foundation for the song.
It's clear from the get-go that this is a different beast than Rae's grittier Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... series, but as usual he knows how to rock an album. Next up is "I Got Money" with A$AP Rocky, which has some hot xylophone and electric bass over some full kick-kick-snare drums. It's followed by "Wall to Wall" featuring Busta Rhymes and French Montana, with more "full-to-bursting" drums and bass. French Montana kills the hook, singing in a borderline-Jamaican style before opening a killer verse with "Clear view, dark tints, hustle by the park bench / White top blue tops niggas I don't call friends." This beat is also perfect for Busta, who sounds as gravelly and angry as ever with his high-energy style.
"Heated Nights" is next, with Miami keyboards awash in reverb and echo. Then comes "F.I.L.A. World" with a guest spot by 2 Chainz. This track is a bit silly compared to the rest of the album, its dreamy plucked strings and keys setting a tone way too bright to be counteracted by the booming drums. Luckily it's followed immediately by the uptempo "1, 2, 1, 2," the advance-release single featuring Snoop Dogg. Bleating horns and turntables punctuate this beat as Rae and Snoop sound perfectly comfortable rhyming. Snoop has some fun lines throughout his verses, like "Glock hot, crock pot, on the block with The Chef / Out of bounds on the ground with a hole in your chest."
On the second half of the album, we start with "Live to Die," which keeps the rich, full sound the album has set up in its first half. The hook is classic Raekwon, although I'm a bit fuzzy on the last word: "Kill niggas, let it die, live with the feelings / We don't know no other way, just get millions / Pyrex kings and the cartels / Connect in Scarsdale, put your money on the (?)" "Soundboy Kill It," like "Heated Nights" and "1, 2, 1, 2," sounds less New York and more Los Angeles or Miami, but isn't that the point? The opening skit is about Raekwon traveling around the world and "Heated Nights" opens with a skit of Raekwon arriving in Argentina, so maybe getting out of the Big Apple is part of the point. Speaking of which, the real star is the guest appearance by Assassin, who sounds like an angry Elephant Man or Sizzla. This is the second track on F.I.L.A. (after "Wall to Wall") with a distinct Jamaican feel to it, and it's a good sound for Rae to explore.
The huge, humming and buzzing synths on "Revory (Wraith)" set the stage for that track, but it's not as remarkable to me as some of the others. I'm also a bit conflicted about "All About You," which has an identity crisis: Estelle's (well-performed) sung hook and the bass guitar sound really bright and romantic, but Raekwon's gangsta verses and shocking horns are mired in sinister nighttime deals. Either way the song would've gone would've worked fine, but putting both together is a strange dichotomy that will throw some listeners off, at least for their first listen or two.
Wrapping things up are "Nautilus" and "Worst Enemy." "Nautilus" brings the darkness back in full force before a single rhyme, with foleys of guns loading, angry drums, ominous synthesized strings and turntables sampling Rae saying "Murder you..." and someone else saying "Bring the head, leave the body." Raekwon's verses follow suit: "If you wanna hit me you couldn't / Bullet range, door wooden / Hop out, y'all niggaz is puddin' / Why try to leave? / The federation, this is all legislation, we kill you right in front of your seed." All-around phat track and one of my early favorites. Liz Rodrigues sings on "Worst Enemy" between Rae's verses, but it's hard to pay attention when there's such a great ensemble of music behind them. The scaling piano and somber drums sound like early Tricky, which is just another (amazing) risk this album takes.
Overall, my first impression of Fly International Luxurious Art is that there are some real winners throughout the record. My reactions ran the spectrum from blown away ("4 in the Morning," "Nautilus," "Worst Enemy") and very pleasantly surprised ("Wall to Wall," "Heated Nights," "Soundboy Kill It") to just a couple tracks that didn't grab me at first listen ("FILA World," "All About You"). I'll have more in a few months when the album has had some time to spread its influence and I get to it at its appropriate time on the Map of Shaolin, but for now, it's a really good record that's a step under the Cuban Linx series but far above Immobilarity and even The Lex Diamond Story. This is solid hip-hop from front to back that may not smash the industry but is easily worth your $10.
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