Nicholas Craven Reassures Top Dog Status On ”Craven N 3” (EP Review)
Nicholas Craven is a 29 year old producer from Montréal, Québec who gained notoriety in the underground by doing tracks for Griselda, the Dump Gawds, Hus Kingpin, Planet Asia & Ransom just to name a few. He’s also released a handful of beat tapes on his own & even 2 solo EPs: Craven N & Craven N 2. However to warm the fans up for his upcoming projects with Mike Shabb & Your Old Droog dropping later this year, Nicholas is closing out the Craven N trilogy by dropping his 3rd EP.
“Opulence” by Stove God Cook$ is a symphonic opener proclaiming that they’ve won whereas “Yzerman” by Boldy James takes a glossier route talking about being tied in. “Breaking Atoms” by Evidence works in a soul sample to discuss righting wrongs & needing the pressure present, but then “Anchor” by Navy Blue follows it up with a piano ballad talking about how he ain’t trying to boast.
Meanwhile on “50 Wings”, we have Elucid on top of some killer guitars to discuss grace, peace, prosperity, fortune & wisdom just before “Serotonin” by Pink Siifu brings in some brass talking about seeing & showing it all. The track “YOD Body” incorporates an alluring vocal sample with Your Old Droog delivering some fiery bars & prior to the “Sud Wes Craven” outro, the final song “Nouvelle Religion” by Connaisseur Ticaso educates listeners on some French over a soul loop & it’s really admirable.
You can’t go wrong with either of the previous installments of the Craven N series, but this has gotta be my favorite installment so far. The guests all bring their A-Game lyrically & Nicholas continues to propel himself as one of the best hip hop producers in recent memory. If he keeps it up, 2022 might be his biggest year yet.
