Chief Kamachi Returns After a Decade For His 6th LP “Godbody” (Album Review)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania underground veteran Chief Kamachi releasing his 6th studio LP & the first after 10 years. A member of the JuJu Mob & formerly of the Army of the Pharaohs collective, his first couple solo efforts Cult Status & Concrete Gospel came out prior to his departure after AotP’s sophomore effort Ritual of Battle & followed the latter 2 up with The Clock of Destiny as well as Rise & Rhyme and of course Radio Raheem. Couple days after Christmas, he’s back with that Godbody.

“The 4th Lecture” is this triumphantly hardcore intro talking about being from a different pedigree & refusing to compromise his integrity for celebrity status whereas “Solar Return” compares himself to a section 8 Egyptian on top of a piano-driven instrumental. “Dime Bags of Divinity” embraces a gospel boom bap sound calling himself the sun rising over the slum tomorrow ahead of “Storm the Capital” calling for us all ready to be freed.

Moving on from there, we have Kamachi on “Sold the Soul” coming clean regarding every step he takes feeling like as if it’s the last dawn wanting to know who withdrew the light leading into “96 Fatigues hooking the kicks & snares back up to talk about freedom being a dirty flag to stand in the rear. “Earth Mecca” soulfully recalls the last time he saw this queen was when she was in the block looking up at the sky just before “Concrete Prayer Rugs” gives everyone the sound of repentance.

“Astral Prison” produced by Domingo happens to be a personal favorite of mine from the drumless keys to the lyrics clearing his name as prisoner of the stars while “Breakfast in Babylon” feasts on knowledge rather than bread tasting like ash & despair. The self-produced “Lil Kev Ain’t a Killer” tells the story of a church boy with a pure soul spending the rest of his life behind bars but prior to the titular outro, “NTB” ends by wanting to show him that you got it.

Returning after a decade away from the game, it’s only right that Kamachi returned with album that redefines the boundaries of spiritual, lyrical & raw hip hop. Godbody takes underground heads on sonic journey through the streets, the soul & the cosmos delivered with the precision & power that only Kamachi can bring sparking a whole entire movement rather than being written off as simply music.

Score: 7/10