Fly Anakin’s Sophomore Effort “(The) Forever Dream” is His Most Experimental & Ambitious [Album Review]
This is the sophomore effort from Richmond, Virginia emcee Fly Anakin. Starting out roughly a decade ago, he first caught my attention in 2018 after being featured on Ankhlejohn’s magnum opus Van Ghost & started to gain even more exposure when he & Pink Siifu dropped their collaborative effort FlySiifu’s. His full-length debut studio album Frank that celebrated it’s 3-year anniversary last month was a great way of him honoring his father & is coming back to address (The) Forever Dream.
“Good Clothes” starts by talking about getting his mind right around the time of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 & not needing to ask for forgiveness since he’s been taking what’s his whereas “Teen Summit” strips the drums thanks to Quelle Chris so he can try to build before going back. “My N***a” featuring Big Kahuna O.G. & $ilkMoney samples “Awaking of Our Senses” by Argo for a dedication to brotherhood while “Lil One” addresses an individual who wants something when he already owes something.
Iojii appears with Fly Anakin on the drumless chipmunk soul track “Check on Me” that August Fanon laced asking for their romantic interests to check & see how both of them are doing just before “Not Too Shabby” featuring Nickelus F, Quelle Chris & $ilkMoney brings the quartet together to talk about being closer to their dreams. “Lord Forgives, I Hold Grudges” featuring Denmark Vessey & Pink Siifu is pretty much their way of saying “god forgives, I don’t” leading into the string-laced “The Times” talks about his squad having most of their heads screwed on.
“Forever Dream” takes the drums out of the equation again painting a picture as if he’s Vincent Van Gogh while “Corner Pocket” featuring BBYMutha produced by The Alchemist gives a shoutout to themselves since they got money on the way. “YOUGOTME!!” after the “Dr. Phil” skit discusses being heartbroken after giving this woman everything & after the “Foreverever Dream” interlude, the soulful closer ”Say Thank You” featuring Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy ends by poignantly giving all praise to God.
Starting the deluxe run, “Happiness” featuring Henny L.O. & $ilkMoney after the “Clock Intro” spits individual verses of their own over a soul sample without the need of a hook while “Sayless” featuring NoGum Hundo gets on some jazzy boom bap shit staying about their cheddar. “I Need Those” featuring $ilkMoney strips the drums taking it back to when their mothers worked days while “Big Fat Jelly Got a Word For Us” comes through with a skit.
“Sadatay” featuring billy woods takes a more abstract approach to their songwriting over a Graymatter beat while “Bloodletting” featuring Domo Genesis & Quelle Chris wouldn’t be surprising if it was recorded around the same time as World Gone Mad or Scram! although everyone very much kills it. After the “Cauldron Coochie Lucy-lude”, we have BBYMutha returning for “A Twerk Song” although the jazzy instrumental suggests anything but.
The self-produced “Got a Gun” talks about setting shit in motion while “SSX Tricky” soulfully asks how one wages war without leverage. “Socks Over the Smoke Detector” featuring Fatima, Quelle Chris & $ilkMoney hits us with a jazzily drumless posse cut rapping for 6 minutes straight while the final bonus track “Sandwich Bag Boys” featuring Domo Genesis preceding the “Clock Outro” hops over some strings to talk about counting all day.
Some of the most experimentally ambitious material of Fly Anakin’s career winds up on (The) Forever Dream bringing together a collection of bright, diverse & downright gorgeous underground hop hop hip hop that’s so light-on-its-feet to the point where it can sometimes feel like it’s sweeping you off yours. I prefer the production here a little more than Frank because of the way utilizes relentlessly sunny & imaginative instrumental flourishes tilting its tracks from laid-back to cocksure to thoughtful with the elegance of a well-executed magic trick.
Score: 7/10
