From the Bay Are comes a producer with a truly captivating beat making style. Fusing elements of soul, jazz, and trip-hop, Styles1001’s production sensibility is groovy, smooth, and lackadaisical with a pulse. With a distinctively old school approach to his sound, The M9 Project is a find that any boom bap or 90s rap fan is bound to not just enjoy, but absolutely love. With the help of the late and great Rasar Amani as a poet and emcee on his side, this long awaited follow up release is a celebration and an honouring while just being an all around treat to the ears.
It’s so effortless from back to front, opening with the sermon that is ‘One of These Days’. The seven minute long sees a beautiful storytelling set of verses delivered that keeps you so on lock and listening to every bar while the beat just allows Amani to glide over it. ‘2 Point 2’ takes the energy up a notch, offering a much more up tempo piece of music that goes hard in the paint. A furious flow from Rasar Amani gives way at times to interludes from Styles1001 that allow you a moment’s reprieve before he hops back onto the mic and the fiery beat resumes at full swing and vigour.
Really, any hip-hop enthusiast is bound to find tracks on tracks to hit replay on and add to your playlists on this record. It’s immaculately pieced together, with Rasar Amani not once dropping the ball on his lyricism or delivery and Styles1001 constantly offering just the most exquisitely old-school beats to complement him. Rest in peace to a great.