A mostly successful collaboration
This project is a collaboration between the rap group LMD and Madlib. LMD is a group consisting of three members: Declaime, LMNO and MED. This group collaborated with legendary producer Madlib, who needs no introduction, on this LP. This album was released on September 2nd, 2022.
It starts off with the track “Into.” This track starts with a few words of introduction and then transitions into a few bars before ending. The next track, the title track, likewise has a funky beat over which they flow seamlessly. Declaime’s voice is perfect for the beat as it complements the prominent bassline very well. Both LMD and MED have great verses on the track. The hook at first is a bit jarring as his voice is not very sonically fitting for the hook, however, by the end of the track it sounds nice and is a bit more comfortable than in the beginning. All three artists have great verses on the track with LMNO’s standing out for how well he flows on the beat.
The next track, “Advice,” showcases two verses with bars from each of the three rappers broken up into two groups by a sample. As usual, Madlib masterfully produced the track so the sample is fully integrated into the song and doesn’t feel out of place at all. On this track, all three members get two opportunities to showcase their bars and wordplay and they do just that. Although the bars aren’t all that lyrically profound and their flow isn’t completely smooth the whole track, it is a nice representation of the group working together on a track and highlights their cohesion and teamwork.
The track “Pop Fly” features the rapper DJ Romes. The song is definitely one of the best on the album. Each rapper on it is at his best. The bars, the flows, and the production are all amazing and work great together. Once again, Madlib comes along with great use of a sample that complements the verses nicely. LMD performs better on this track than on the last one as their flows and wordplay are at a higher level.
The next track features an amazing long verse from Fly Anakin. He has one of the longest verses on the album itself which is a bit uncomfortable as usually features do not take the spotlight this much. He comes along with a great verse and outshines the others in LMD other than LMNO’s which competes with it nicely. Once again, the production is amazing.
After a few other tracks, the song “Steppers” starts playing. This track is painfully short. With a length of a bit over one minute, this song should’ve been longer. The beat and the verses work so well together that despite its short length, it is still one of the best on the album.
The track “High Stakes” has different production from the other tracks on the album, however, it still manages to fit with the album which is not an easy feat. In spite of the switch-up, the members of LMD still manage to shine on the beat. In fact, they might even be better on this track than some of the other tracks. Declaime especially shines on this beat compared to the previous beats. His flow shows a great improvement and his wordplay also matches it.
The outro “Duwop” is similar to the previous track in that the production is different than the other tracks on the album but it manages to fit in and serves as a great outro for the album.
Overall this album was a good listen with many ups but a few downs. The flows and wordplay by the members of LMD could have been improved, however in many tracks they managed to show their abilities. The production on this album really stood out which is to be expected since Madlib produced it. The features by DJ Romes and Fly Anakin were also great. This album is a great listen for fans of Madlib who want to get into some of his lesser-known collaborations.
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