Bronze Nazareth Proves Why “If You’re Worried, You Should Be” (Album Review)
Bronze Nazareth is a 42 year old producer/MC from Detroit, Michigan who came up as a member of the group Wisemen alongside his late brother Kevlaar 7 & eventually the Wu-Tang Clan’s in-house production team the Wu-Elements. He would also go on to build a solo career for himself beginning with The Great Migrationin ‘06 & then School for the Blindman only 5 years later. But after returning from a decade-long hiatus a year & a half ago by enlisting The Four Owls’ very own Leaf Dog to produce Bundle Raps alongside Ekphrasis produced entirely by New York titan & current Album of the Year holder Roc Marciano last fall, he’s bringing Apollo Brown & Roll Blunt with him to help produce his 5th album.
“Ducks” is a classy boom bap opener to the album as Bronze boasting that he’s rare as fuck whereas “Contact Sport” takes a more soulful route talking about that’s exactly what business is to him. Killah Priest & Recognize Ali tag along for the triumphant “Guard Your Food” taking a shot at the vultures, but then Ty Farris & Illah Dayz both come into the picture for the dusty yet symphonic “Cold Canvas” spitting some braggadocio.
Meanwhile on “Heart Full of Misery”, we have a more vulnerable look at Bronze talking about heartbreak over a piano/boom bap hybrid leading into the soulfully produced Wisemen reunion “You’ll Never Know” following the “Scars” interlude. “Snub Nose” with Hus Kingpin weaves a relaying sample into the fold talking about needing the whole pie & the plate just before “Talk My Shit” returns to the boom bap with the title saying it all as far as subject matter goes.
“Moroccan Hash” throws a drumless, crooning loop into the mix talking about what he’s smoking on while “Dome Windows” brings back the soul to speak from the heart. “The Guv’nor” compares himself to that of a Wolverine over some organs & horns while the penultimate track “Rest” with Hollywood Dots the Oncelor, Kurt Solid & Kurupt to drop a barfest on top of strings & a vocal loop. The bonus cut is just a decent “Moroccan Hash” remix with heavy drums.
Ekphrasis ended up being one of my favorite Nazareth albums yet, so it had me intrigued to hear what he was gonna do next. Needless to say, this is a solid follow-up. Couple features I could’ve done without, but the production that he manages to cook-up with Apollo Brown & Roll Blunt sticks to their signature sounds very well dropping giving a wide range of emotions lyrically.
Score: 7/10
