Grafh Reenlists 38 Spesh to Produce His 4th LP “God’s Timing” (Album Review)
Queens emcee Grafh linking back up with 38 Spesh for his 4th LP. Coming up in 2003 off his debut mixtape The Bang Out, he went on to release 7 more tapes before dropping his first full-length album Autografh only a few years later continuing that with a total of 10 mixtapes & an EP. The sophomore effort Stop Calling Art Content produced entirely by the late DJ Shay & released through Benny the Butcher’s very own MNRK Music Group imprint Black Soprano Family Records as well as his TCF Music Group debut Art of Words would become his most acclaimed material to date, so I didn’t expect less going into God’s Timing.
“Language” begins by jazzily calling out those who ain’t gang like they say they are whereas “Fight for Love” featuring Method Man takes the soulful boom bap route instrumentally getting in their hardcore shit lyrically. “Rock, Paper, Scissors” featuring 38 Spesh himself displays a back-&-forth chemistry between the 2 accompanied by a rugged beat just before “Roc-A-Fella Chain” featuring Freeway, Memphis Bleek & Peedi Crakk turns the jazz rap influences up paying homage to the Roc La Familia Dynasty.
Papoose joins Grafh for the grimy “Straight Shooter” reminding that you’re either legit out here or you’ve never had any losses whatsoever leading into “Take Risk” featuring Dre Island & Vado aggressively explaining that one has to take risks out where they from. “Glory” featuring Wretch 32 has possibly the weakest hook on the album despite the mature subject matter, but then “Remember Who You Are” featuring Jim Jones incorporates an organ talking about staying true.
“Coolin’” has a slicker vibe to the beat providing a calming & charming smoker’s anthem while the groovy “Poetry” touches on raunchier subject matter. “Right Now” featuring Talib Kweli returns to the boom bap not giving a fuck if the radio plays them due to their nasty styles while the rhythmically produced “Bullet Proof” featuring Don Paul & Dope Gang Porter talking about running this shit. “Give Praise” featuring Spesh ends the LP with a dusty gospel flip talking about giving praise to God.
Even if I came away enjoying this a little less than I did Stop Calling Art Content & Art of Words, I can still say that I enjoyed a good amount of what I heard & hope that Spesh continues working with Grafh as much as possible. Only a select few of the guests miss the mark, but most of them throughout God’s Timing stick the landing & match Grafh’s level of penmanship scored by the mostly traditional boom bap production that made Spesh as big as he is of a beatsmith in the underground.
Score: 8/10
