Elcamino Runs It Back with Ill Tone for His First EP of the Year “God is Love” (EP Review)
Pretty sure this has to be the 21st EP from Buffalo, New York emcee & singer Elcamino. Blowing up almost a decade ago off his self-titled EP with with Griselda Records, his profile increasingly grew after being followed up by Walking on Water mixtape in the summer of 2018 along with dropped 2 studio albums & a few EPs the year after that. They Spit on Jesus proved to be a well received Black Soprano Family Records debut becoming the first Camino project that I had covered since On the 3rd Day & that much like No Weapon Formed Against Me was an improvement over some of the material we’ve gotten from him in recent memory. 6 months after having Real Bad Man produce The Game is the Game followed by Ill Tone recently producing Built for Cuban Links named after Raekwon’s iconic solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… produced by RZA in addition to flexing his Millionaire status & Full Moon showing a heavy Future influence. Martyr’s Prayer III produced by 38 Spesh made for a gratifying conclusion to the beloved trilogy as did Mino, recruiting Ill Tone to produce God is Love
An uncredited feature pops up during the backend of the intro “L.L.D. (Long Live Dumpin’)” ruggedly dismissing anybody who ain’t fuckin’ with their music whereas the drumless, chipmunk soul-infused “Crazzzy” talks about being the last real ones left. “Hip Hop” continues the sampling of soul music working in some kicks & snares advising to move smarter & slicker leading into “Nose Ring” combining elements of rap rock & boom bap talking about wanting the whole pie instead of 1/2 of it.
“12-11” begins the 2nd half referencing my favorite show of all-time Breaking Bad on amc whom Mike Santana took the TNA World Championship back from Frankie Kazarian in Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling’s critically panned debut for the network last weekend while “Fuck wit Me” brings back the drumless chipmunk soul vibes promising anyone daring to mess with him they’ll level up. “Amazing” strips the drums once more giving out Hot Ones until the cops come & “Friend Indeed” finishes by talking about being the best in the game.
Ill Tone & Elcamino have already proven themselves to have a substantial chemistry during the latter’s tenure with B$F, so I had no problem with them linking back up during God is Love & I still came away from it enjoying although not as much as Mino almost 4 months prior. Ill Tone’s production maintains the grittiness his 46% share of Mino’s beats & putting the uncredited guest appearance on the intro aside, I gotta give it up to Meech for having much lesser features than the biggest opus of his career so far.
Score: 8/10
