Illitamin G – Self-Titled (Album Review)
Illitamin G is an MC/producer duo from the United Kingdom consisting of Bristol, England lo-fi hip hop producer Illiterate alongside London emcee Vitamin G. The latter of whom has been on the come-up making some standout 2018 guest appearances, following the other’s beat placement on Bisk from the Cult of the Damned’s sophomore effort XXXX the preceding year. So being familiar with both of them for some time already, I was already intrigued by what this eponymous full-length studio debut under the Brighton, East Sussex imprint Yogocop Records had in store for each half of the pairing.
“Gone Wrong O’Clock” opens up with a boom bap instrumental containing a vocal sample & some pianos coming out the gate with a reference to the Paramount Skydance Corporation subsidiary MTV-owned jackass franchise’s de facto leader Johnny Knoxville whereas “Protoza” featuring Cutta Chase links up over a lo-fi beat dropping verses with no hook, with Vitamin G’s rhyme schemes going harder & sticking out the most across both songs.
Continuing from there: “Landing” talks about still being here in the stratosphere just before “The Juice” shifts towards a sleepier lo-fi vibe to reach the midway point discussing fools commonly possessing the inability to maintain a loyal soul. “Tried So Hard” kicks off the 2nd half with a sound reminiscent to the late, great J Dilla talking about him still putting in the effort to make it while the breezy “Everybody” featuring CW Jones & Nuphzed boasting of no one fucking with them.
“All the Time” gets back to the sampling techniques finding himself unable to get somebody off his mind while “Oscilate” combines elements of lo-fi hip hop & boom bap addressing an individual moving like a goon possibly losing their place as a repercussion. “Posted” featuring Wundrop finds both members of CMPND joining forces so they can spend 120 seconds dropping hardcore penmanship & the closer “We Did It” spends the remaining minutes of the album getting celebratory.
Almost a month after it was announced that CMPND had signed to one of the UK hip hop scene’s most prolific independent labels High Focus Records, it makes sense why Illiterate decided to do a whole LP with Vitamin G when it’s been revealed he lended a couch for the latter to sleep on the preceding summer. His multisyllabic lyrics was part of what drew me into the trio’s debut single “Whatuplayin@” & that matched with Illiterate’s lo-fi production makes me hope Illitamin G’s paths will cross again for a follow-up when the time’s right.
Score: 8/10
