Loot Stacz – “The Bar Code” (Album Review)
New Zealand native Loot Stacz boldly announces the release of his debut album “The Bar Code,” a showcase of one of the dopest and most fundamental projects in 2019, and proudly rising out of the bubbling London, UK underground Hip Hop scene. Compacted with 9 quality tracks, honestly made to cater to some of the pickiest Hip Hop enthusiasts, just like me…, who looks for heavyweight lines, dope beats, subject matter, bars and most importantly, influence! Being a huge fan on UK & overseas Hip Hop myself, I feel blessed to be able to review such a classic debut album from one of New Zealands best emcees! I’m very impressed that for the past two years, he has been featured on Teambackpack and Worldunderground, chosen as one of the top 64 emcees to compete at the World underground Hip Hop championships in L.A and N.Y. Hopefully one day he comes back to LA and drops a MIC SESSION for us!
Listen to the album on Spotify & iTunes!
“The Bar Code”, the self-titled track, starts out the album following the journey of Loot Stacz and his complete frustration on the state of Hip Hop today. He shoots bullets on every bar, from clowning mumble to surgically devouring all these new so-called underground rappers in the game today! Lyric-Killer, track 2, really had me playing this track on repeat for a few hrs straight! The story-telling ability Loot Stacz has on this track, along with the very unique bar pattern, had me truly amazed.
I won’t go as far as to say that all of his verses on the album were stellar, but not a single flow or verse disappointed me. Loot Stacz undoubtedly proves his potential through his pen game and his extreme originality. I’d say one of his best songs is track 5 “Conspiracy Theory”, opening with an infectious message against this bullshit lies the system tells us all, he delivers solid verses to back it up, keeping the listener engaged throughout the song and awakening all of us who feel the same way he does! Two other songs to take note of are track 8, “Redemption,” and track the last track 9, “Second Coming” Similarly to track 1 “The Bar Code” they have solid flows, good production, and verses worth their weight when it comes to unique and original style and BAR STRUCTURE.
Overall, “The Bar Code” was surprisingly enjoyable to listen. It’s not perfect, but it’s absolutely the start of what I hope to be a long, successful music career. If Loot Stacz isn’t on your radar, he needs to be. Last but not least, let’s not forget about the dope producer on this project SK1 Beats, he laced some vicious modern cutting-edge/boom-bap production on this record!!! The UK Hip Hop scene as of right now, in my opinion, has the name Loot Stacz written all over it!!!
Rating: 8/10
Highlights: Great Debut, Production, Lyricism, Unique Bar Structure
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