★★★✩✩
by itzdadiabolical
When one thinks of the faces of the current Seattle rap scene, Nacho Picasso immediately comes to mind. Nacho has earned his way to fame with his dark comedy, quotables, charisma, and trademark raspy delivery. Stoned & Dethroned is his fourth teamup with the production duo Blue Sky Black Death, and their most hype release yet.
BEATS: ★★★★✩
Blue Sky Black Death has the type of production that you would expect from their name, at least in their collaborations with Nacho. They come across and funky and futuristic while also being gothic and dense. The instrumentals sound like theme songs for vampires and werewolves, and possess the same flair as Picasso’s personality. The synergy is very present on this album, as the melodies seem to weave and dance with Nacho’s cadences.
Even with the variety of sounds, the general theme maintains throughout. “‘89 Dope Spot” has a lot more bounce and bump than the other songs, but with the nighttime cricket sounds lingering in the background, and the incremental ghostly “whoops” add to that same feeling. The creepy little “haunted doll” sound in “So Dark”. The Bone Thugs sample in “money” sounding like a ghastly chorus… The production of this album has an incredible attention to detail. Blue Sky Black Death’s work in this album not only sounds good, but is clever, creative, intricate, and conceptually persistent from front to back.
LYRICS: ★★★✩✩
As expected, there is a slew of quotable bars, and clever allusions to various fantasy, cartoons, and video games (90’s baby stuff), and dark humor.
The presence of the former is hardly as present as one would hope, but still all over the place. Lines like:
“Your girls swallowed all my kids like Cronos”
and
“Took the king out, Nacho P heir appointed”
Nacho P is punchline central. His lyrical style is reminiscent to the legendary mixtape-era Wayne. As you can see from the Cronos line, references are a heavy contribution to his punchline game.
Furthermore, he really depicts his personality well with these lyrics. Listeners will feel like Nacho is their chick magnet, party animal, debauchery king, nonchalant, cool yet gangsta homeboy.
CONTENT: ★★✩✩✩
What isn’t really expected when listening to Nacho Picasso is a bunch of political rhymes, emotional songs, positive subject matter, etc. Not that they’re completely absent, but there’s no emphasis on them whatsoever. You do get a few peeks at them throughout the album that shows that Nacho really has a heart for this stuff beyond all that other stuff.
In “I’m To Blame For The Rain” (one of my favorite tracks on the album), the second verse starts out with a heartfelt outcry against the perceived cultural appropriation and vulturing in hip-hop music.
“hurt black conscious
Curse black artists, thirst and starve us
Til’ we burst black-hearted and we act retarded
And the bombs bombarded til’ the rich restart it
Cause they disregard it, that that history's our shit”
Also, in the end of “Nacho’s Blues” he reflects on missing his cousin who’s been locked up.
But, like Nacho says, “So what I don’t rap conscious? I’m in a trance.”
OVERALL: ★★★✩✩
Stoned & Dethroned impressiveness lies within the fact that it captures a very unique vibe and energy that not only fits well with its authors, but resonates well with listeners. It sounds good sonically, and there’s tons of zingers to keep listeners entertained for a while. Nacho’s flow, delivery, and the mixing of his voice combine perfectly for the desired sounds. The only qualm some listeners may have is the unfocus in the literary concepts, and the lack of profound subject matter and depth.
Cold.
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