Lou from Paradise & Statik Selektah – “Not Dead Yet!” (EP Review)

Lou from Paradise is a 25 year old MC from Brooklyn, New York breaking out in 2017 off the strength of his debut mixtape Humaniac. This resulted in a short-lived deal with Interscope Records, whom helped him put out his debut album Painkiller Paradise a couple years later. But after keeping a low profile since then, Lou is tapping in Statik Selektah for his 2nd EP.

“Brainless” serves as a classy opener with it’s jazzy undertones & the choir vocals in the instrumental as Lou tells listeners he’s still an asshole to this day. The title track jumps on quirky boom bap production to shove his return in our faces whereas “Antifreeze” is an eerier cut about how shit ain’t faze him in a while.

The gloomy “Cold Shoulder” speaks on how he’d never thought he’d make it out of the hood to give a fuck what others think while the piano-laced penultimate track “Outside wit Psychoz” tells the listener that he doesn’t feel shit. Then there’s “Stray Dog”, which is an off-the-top freestyle accompanied with a devilish beat.

I’ve been waiting 4 years for Lou to drop his magnum opus & I feel like he finally did it on Not Dead Yet!. His lyricism has improved quite a bit since he first came onto the scene & the signature sound Statik Selektah brings to the table suits the kid best.

Score: 8/10