Lyricist from Detroit, Michigan and one of the best in the underground right now Mickey Diamond returning for his 14th LP. Emerging in early 2020 on the strength of his debut EP Bangkok Dangerousthe dude has since turned quite a few heads in the underground building an impressive discography for himself with his previous 13 albums along with 7 EPs and a mixtape. But over the past year, Mickey has been consistently putting out some of the best material of his career so far. This includes the Gucci Ghost album and its sequel in production Big Ghost Ltd.the Ralph Duke– is produced Oroku Saki EP, the Sadhogold– is produced Death threat$ album, the Camouflage Monk– is produced Capital gains album or more recently its 3rd & 4th installment Gucci Ghost since last winter. Diamond and Ral Duke reunited for the extraordinary Oroku Saki continuity Super Shredder & only 3 months later It's 5:00 somewherehe and Big Ghost back up for Gucci Gambinos.
“Fruits of Wisdom” featuring Pro Dillinger opens things up perfectly by jumping over a drumless instrumental reference, 世界ジュニアヘビー級王座, KO-Dタッグ王座, FMWインディデンデントワールド世界ジュニアヘビー級王座, 2-time IWGPジュドGHCジュニアヘビー級タッグ王座 & current 新日本プリレス Junior Heavyweight タカ みちのくof ジャスト・フォー・ガイズ unit while “Word Bond” works over a sampled boom bap beat answering everyone who says they're not out.
Pro Dillinger returns on the exciting rock crossover “Green Paper” promising that the money will come if you keep driving on “Truth or Dare” with Method Man bringing it back to the basement with instruments so they can talk about death on the 313 & 718 respectively advises to use all heads. “Speedknot” hooks the sampler for just a minute to make way for Diamond to break out of those funny mufflers, but then the classy “Ice Cubes” talks about stormy weather and getting hit by pyrex.
“The Untouchables” featuring Pro Dillinger hits the halfway point aggressively calling out those who believe in their favorite rappers for making bricks when they were legitimately chumps' just before the duo jam for “A Man with a Dream” bringing the soul samples back in cooking. “Drug it up and bag it” in less than 80 minutes. “Cold Summer” gives a more solemn vibe to the beat reflected in having the entire block in a submission choke before Pro Dillinger returns to “Rusty Blades”, promising to fight back if he fires 1st.
Downloading the last leg of it Gucci Gambinos Next, “The Last Gangster” mixes a vocal sample with kicks and snares to talk about another day and another dollar, while the song “Rockin' a Gold Tooth” pays homage to the Wu-Tang Clan's iconic single “CREAM (Cash Rules All Around Me).” The title track featuring Pro Dillinger gathers for an instrumental boom bap akin to “Wu-Gambinos” and, finally, “Crime Paradise” featuring Pro Dillinger closes out the LP with the two irresistibly tearing down their extravagant lifestyles.
Ghost & Diamond succeed in their mission to restore a feeling by taking the same inspiration from Raekwon's solo debut Only 4 Cuban Linx were built…early Hong Kong action films, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola films, the fashion brands Avirex & Pelle Pelle and finally the money-making 90s dope era. Pro Dillinger's lyrics are reminiscent of Ghostface Killah's lyrics OB4CL and it feels like listeners are reliving or experiencing for the first time what it was like at the top of hip hop culture's golden age.
Rating: 9/10
