Ty Farris is the “Enigma with an Attitude” (Album Review)
Detroit veteran Ty Farris returning after nearly a whole year for his 11th LP. Emerging up up under the name T-Flame being featuring on a lot of projects throughout the mid-2000’s until the very end of the decade, it was at that point where he started to put out solo stuff at a prolific rate by dropping 11 mixtapes, all 10 of his previous albums & 3 EPs. Standouts include the Room 39 duology & the No Cosign Just Cocaine series, the Machacha-produced Malice at the Palace & the Graymatter produced Sounds That Never Left My Soul. An entire summer later, Ty’s returning as the Enigma with an Attitude.
After the “Riddler Meets Jigsaw” intro, the first song “Alchemy in the Trenches” produced by Futurewave sets the tone of what it’s to come excellently from the boom bap production to Ty’s deadly lyricism whereas “Riddles from a Ruger” talking about never getting a read on him over a chipmunk soul instrumental. “Puzzle Full of Pistols” has to be another favorite of mine here from the Animoss beat to the bars about full mags resolving issues, but then the crooning boom bap cut “Mind of the Jigsaw” reveals the villain with charisma.
“The Man, The Myth, The Mystery” has a significantly darker vibe thanks to August Fanon visiting him by turning the music up loud as you can just before “The Enigma” uncannily talks about remaining mysterious. “True Identity” pushes forward the 2nd half of the album tensely moving at a different pace asking why he needs to still move packs when he making music leading into the lavish “Villain with the Smile” smiles at his enemies playing chess at the highest level.
To begin the encore of Enigma with an Attitude, the song “Who Got the Answers” returns to the boom bap explaining that it’s another day another question while “3rd Eye Never Lie” from the Wavy da Ghawd instrumental to the lyrics about seeing differently when focused stands as another personal favorite. Even the title track with its haunting Camoflauge Monk beat & flexing he’s 20x better than your favorite MC.
After a year off, T-Flame returns for a journey dating back to 7th grade for him filled with thought provoking lines and heavy play on the enigma. He does this by taking street scenarios & life situations & bend them with this theme of Enigma if you really think about the streets being mysterious & very complex as it is. Regardless of the approach for Ty being different, he still gave the world something that forced you to think in a painful way.
Score: 8/10
