Album Review | Cambatta – LSD: Lunar Solar Duality

This album was released on July 21st this year. Cambatta is an artist from Connecticut who I was first informed of by Andre Gainer of Lyricology 101. I was pretty excited when Mello Music Group announced that they had signed this dude, and every single song he’s dropped with them has blown me away. This has been my most anticipated album of the year ever since it was announced. I mean, it was tied with Blu & Exile’s Miles for a while, and of course Black Thought has snuck into that conversation. Those are the three albums that I’ve been fiending for the most this year. Oh, Marlowe 2 is up there too though. Anyway, I think this might end up being my favorite album of 2020. If not my number one, I won’t be surprised at all if it ends up in my top 5. Before I listened to this shit, I went back and listened to Cambatta’s album from September of last year, Holy Ghost 2, which is amazing. Definitely check that project out if you haven’t yet. It’s one of the best albums of 2019. I think this one is gonna be even better. This is gonna be some wild ass, next level shit. Just look at that album cover. This is gonna be nuts. I don’t have the production credits as of July 13th, but I’ll update this review as soon as I get them.

1. BloodMoon featuring Nomxolisi Ndlangana produced by Matthew Godfather

I love the dark production on this song; it kinda sounds like something that Ab-Soul would spit over. Cambatta of course slaughtered this shit too.

Daddy never had me on his lap
So when a male authority figure rob me I’m casually reactin’ with attack
I’ve always been as talented as rap
Only recently had niggas on me like I got a saddle on my back

One thing I learned about Cambatta on this album is that he really hasn’t ever fucked with his dad. I also learned that he dabbled in a lot of drug use from a super early age, so all the information I learned from this album made the closing lines on Mic El JahXsun make sense. Once I realized what those last four lines meant I was floored. I’m getting ahead of myself though… This song right here is fucking incredible. This verse is absolutely stunning. The way he puts words together is just mesmerizing.

Slaughter pigs on this redneck farm
Wake ‘em up with a FedEx bomb
Separate head, neck, arm, chest, legs gone
Body parts everywhere like on sex ed. walls

Damn near every single line on this song blew me away.

Alien, I’m beyond luck
Me, I’m beyond Elon Musk
Me, I’m beyond Æon Flux
Breed all, seed all, queens I fucks
Evolving all things I touch
Me on seesaw fling y’all up
Up, see Mars, see stars, see stardust
See me in everybody, Murphy on Klump, yup

I’m the bully on the back of the retard bus
In front of a starving man I’ll eat my lunch
Munch gray poupon, dijon brunch
So many slaves, I don’t need my thumbs
Press tab on tongue like a Reebok Pump

He fucking annihilated this shit, man. The Spoken Word outro from Nomxolisi Ndlangana was cool too. This song is absolutely amazing. I fucking love it. It’s dope af.

2. Bones of Osiris produced by Chup the Producer

Cambatta’s Lunar Solar Duality is possibly my most anticipated album of the rest of the year right now. The first single he dropped was fire, and I might actually like this one even more. They’re both absolutely stellar. I love the dark production on this track, and Cambatta fucking slaughtered every single verse here. His rhyming ability is scary good.

Free not, everybody gotta pay to live
Laws were created by some racist pigs
You could never own a planet, but he made it his
Then he stripped the languages from my Native lips

I love his voice too. He sounds like the narrator from the Soul Calibur series. The first verse was awesome enough, but the second one completely blew me away. I wish y’all could’ve seen my reaction the first time I heard this couplet…

If you’re not as smart as me, I’m dumb to you
My favorite color’s the number W

That is the hardest fucking flex I’ve heard in a song all year. This is probably my second favorite song of the whole week to be honest. This dude is a fucking monster, and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t end up releasing one of the best albums of the year. This shit is dope af. Do not sleep on it.

3. 33 featuring Kenny Buttons produced by Lucid Swank

When I realized that Cambatta was comparing himself to Jesus on this song, my mind caved in. This shit is fire. I love the dark production, and the weird vocal performance from Kenny Buttons is really cool too. I really like the way the verses are structured. The first one is awesome.

Around age 5 was the very last time I looked my father in the eyes before the nigga bounced
I was ‘bout 6 when I seen my mama get her wig split by some nigga she let in the house
I was 7 when I learned my first lesson ‘bout sexin’ from the magazine collection underneath the couch
I was 8 when I learned about ‘base; it was Christmas, I was looking for my presents and I found an ounce
I was 9 when I shot my first .9 in the backyard with my Uncle Shawn, them was good times
I was 10 when I lost my best friend to a stray bullet that I heard was fired out that same .9
11 when I learned about heaven from the reverend when he told me that was where my homie probably was
I was 12 when I learned about hell; mama wasn’t doin’ well, whole fam on a lot of drugs

The whole song is structured like this until he reaches the age of 33 and dies just like Jesus, and it’s fucking awesome. The haunting, Opera-like vocals on this song sound so awesome. The way he connects this song to the following track is brilliant.

Turnin’ water into Henny, everybody at the table gettin’ bread and we eat
When they see you as a king just be aware of all the envy and the jealousy it brings, ‘specially your team
It’s usually the one that comes in second that develops a deceptive way of being
Left hand man, he set me up; went and talked to the forces and wet me up
Finally they murdered me at 33
nXggXr chrXst, you heard of me

Jesus, man. This shit is fucking incredible. I was blown away when I first heard this shit, and I still am.

4. nXggXr chrXst produced by V Don

This is the first single from Cambatta’s upcoming album with Mello Music Group, LSD: Lunar Solar Duality, which is currently scheduled for release on July 21st. Anyway, this shit is fucking amazing. I was super excited when I saw that it was produced by V Don, who’s becoming one of my favorite new producers. Speaking of V Don, I didn’t write a review for it, but that Black Mass album that he released earlier this year was great, so check that out if you haven’t yet. Anyway, Cambatta rhymed his fucking ass off on the first verse as always.

Lucidly thinking, lucy the juice that I’m drinking, hallucinate truth & its meaning
I view what computers are dreaming; unusual humanoid heathen
Delusional even, at funerals chiefin’ I laugh in a room full of grievance
My hugest achievement is proving that music is fluent as breathing

The second verse was arguably better than the first one in my opinion.

Ghetto sophistication in my mental configuration, pissing yellow precipitation
On your head while I’m in a spaceship ’til I’m feeling weightless
Higher learning got me sipping Remy, shooting banks up ‘cause a rapper poor
I’ll be at your door with a MAC or more like the cracker rapper or the Apple store

I was already in love with the song, but I was so happy that he came back for a third verse, which feels rarer and rarer everyday. The third verse was the best part of the entire song too. He fucking slaughtered that shit.

I turn vices to virtues, call it eyelid reversal; I wake up your light and resurge you
I restore the sight in your third view, my science is verbal
From deep in the silence I birth you, circle divided by circle
Inside of a cypher of circles like vesica piscis I merge you, the cycles converge you

The line about how he’s controlled by God with a joystick was insane, and that bar about how he’s as sharp as the knife that Jay-Z used to stab Un was fire too. This is probably my favorite song of the whole week to be honest. This dude is an elite MC. I love this shit, and LSD is definitely one of my most anticipated releases of the year now. Don’t sleep on this joint; it’s dope af.

5. Sun of Whorus produced by Nick Price

I love how fucking bloodthirsty Cambatta’s vocal delivery is on this track. The dark production here is fantastic. The entire album has a really dark, religious, ghostly aesthetic. This song sounds like I’m locked in a church and the ghosts of a bunch of saints are screaming at me. I love how wild and aggressive Cambatta’s delivery is here. That line about him snorting coke because he hates Pepsi was crazy.

Dear dad, you created me, but I was never yours
I’m a king; put a sword in a stone, I’ma get the sword
Got the keys; olly olly olly oxen free
The cops on me, squally watchin’ on the block for me
Got the trees, molly, oxy, and I got the E
Them thots on me, mama wanna give the twat to me

I wouldn’t exactly call this a highlight on the album even though it’s still miles better than the best material on most other artists’ albums. I just kinda wish he switched his flow up a bit more, but overall this shit is dope as hell. I love it.

6. Fall of Feinix (666) produced by Matthew Godfather

This was my favorite song on my first listen of the album. Well, it was one of my favorite songs. I still haven’t chosen a favorite track as of July 18th. This is the one track where he really gets super in depth about his history of drug abuse.

No sleep, no dreams
From a coke fiend to dope fiend
From crack baby to crack fiend to blow, speed
Nosebleed, can’t wear the shirt if there’s no sleeves

The production is pretty chill and kinda jazzy. It’s a relatively long track, but it’s awesome how detailed he gets.

I go to drugs when this life attacks
As it’s getting harder, me getting high is how I react
Sleepwalkin’ through this prolonged suicidal nap
Anywhere I lay is potentially where I’m dying at
Relapse every time I hear a striking match
‘Cause I never know where my lighter’s at
Sleepin’ with the roaches and the giant rats
Addict since my grandma gave me grape flavored Dimetapp, I was smacked

He really described a lot of fucked up shit that comes with addiction flawlessly.

Walkin’ validation of all the stereotypes of blacks
I’m a nigger, and I’m fine with that

My spirit animal is a cold turkey
Body made of water, but it’s so murky

He paints such a vivid picture of someone whose entire life was absolutely fucked by drug abuse.

Once upon a time I was mother’s boy, now I’m just a droid
Numb to love, I’ve become annoyed by everybody’s voice
Any sympathetic expression is but a muffled noise

The hook on this song is awesome too. I love everything about this track. This shit is brilliant. It’s dope af.

7. Scale of Anubis featuring Natural Onyx produced by Gum$

This song has one of my favorite hooks on the album from a lyrical perspective.

If God made me in his image then he must’ve been a nigga too

I’m still kinda torn on the vocals from Natural Onyx. They sounded really odd to me at first, and they did kinda grow on me, but I’m still not completely sold on them. I wouldn’t say they’re bad, but they just take some getting used to. The first verse from Cambatta was already good, but the second one is where I was really blown away.

I wish I knew how gravity felt
‘Cause either my head in the clouds, or I’m gettin’ mad at myself
God listened, but my pride wouldn’t let me ask him for help
It’s like my spirit got the chastity belt, I put my broken heart back on the shelf

The song feels slower paced than the previous couple tracks, but it’s not that long so it doesn’t overstay its welcome at all. The production feels relatively light compared to the other instrumentals as well, although the bass is pretty heavy. I love the song. Cambatta’s performance here is phenomenal, and I even enjoyed Natural Onyx’s weird vocals to some extent. This shit is dope as hell.

8. NuMirrorcal produced by Eddie Deuce, E. Bass & Nick Price

This is the only track where Cambatta doesn’t rap at all. He’s pretty much singing throughout the entire song, and it goes over surprisingly well. Well, he kind of is rapping, but it’s very melodic. It actually sounds really awesome. It really caught me off guard on my first listen. I wasn’t expecting anything like this. This is probably the most emotional track on the whole album.

Need a little help, I can’t do this by myself
All I got is me, I don’t got nobody else
Traded in my time, family and health
Have you ever felt like you’re hot enough to freeze, but you cold enough to melt?

I guess if you’re anti-autotune you might not like this, but I really like it. It’s not necessarily a highlight for me among all the other songs on the album. I do think it’s dope as hell though.

9. 24ours (Day&Night) featuring Red Pill produced by Black Magik

Red Pill was featured on Cambatta’s last album, and I was confused at first because I thought it might be Chris Orrick. It’s a different person though. The production on this track is a bit lighter and bouncier than the preceding material. This actually kinda sounds like something Chris Rivers would make, especially due to the melodic delivery and the tone of his voice. This is probably my least favorite song on the album to be honest. I liked Cambatta’s rapping a lot, but I just wish the melody of the hook was less repetitive. The guest verse from Red Pill is pretty cool, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near as phenomenal as Cambatta’s rapping on this album. This is by far the least memorable song for me, but I still like it because I think Cambatta’s writing is great.

Mother Nature & Father Time had a baby and they named it Christ
They only son I hope they raise him right
Daughter too; her name is Luna, but they ain’t alike
When sun is down you see her rising to her greatest height

Again, I’m not in love with this song as much as the others, but I still really like it. I think it’s dope.

10. nXggXria tXsla featuring Songbird produced by E. Bass & Nick Price

At this point, the album really goes into overdrive. Every single track from this point forward is amazing. This is the song that really convinced me that Cambatta has totally mastered the art of character development. The way he describes this Niggerla Tesla character is brilliant. He basically describes a modern day Hephaestus.

Black Tesla, first name: Niggerla
Wizardous, gifted magician you get to live amongst
This indigenous knowledge is from the visitors
When really we just tappin’ in algorithms from within us

Cambatta is really an elite level writer. Every single line here had me hooked.

I’ll invent an artificial brain so close to mine, it’s arguably the same
I’ll invent a sound modulator that can stop it when it rains
And a magnet that can shift how astronomy’s arranged
The other day while getting high on the couch, I invented a water filter that takes hydrogen out
The CIA surrounded every side of my house, they heard I got a hidden secret to what life is about

I appreciated the lines in the hook about Thomas Edison being a wicked embezzler and Benjamin Franklin being a kiddy molester. The mythical inventions he describes throughout the song are really cool to think about.

I’m currently blueprinting a watch that does more than just ticking and talks
It creates a forcefield that’s resistant to the pistol and glocks
You can safely talk shit to the cops, I giggle at shots
I’ll invent a form of corn on the cob, so you’ll never need more than you got
Swallow kernels whole, shit ‘em out, stick ‘em right back on the cob
Rinse it off, having one as an unlimited crop

There are so many quotable lines on this track. I don’t know which song I prefer between this and Mic El JahXsun. This is the longest song on the album, but the length is more than justified. The vocals from Songbird on the outro are very pretty too; she did a great job. I love the smooth, light, dreamy production too. Everything about this song is awesome to me. I think it’s dope af.

11. Grand Number TheoRam (GNT 1;1) produced by Kyle Otto

I think this is my favorite song on the album to be honest. It’s got some stiff competition, but I just love the mind blowing lyricism. This is like Lupe Fiasco Mural type shit. He spazzed on this song. This is rap on steroids. I love the production here too. The first verse is insane, and they all just get better and better as the song progresses.

Letters are just numbers
And words are like algebra formulas that your brain processes to make colors
Atoms are just pixels
And DNA’s coding that’s activated by light and then crystalizes within you

I feel like Cambatta would be crazy in a rap battle. I think I saw him say that he wants to work with Daylyt. I need that. That quatrain that I just quoted was from the second verse. The third verse is my favorite part of the song.

Listen
Six is sex
Six is legs which insect steps
Sick like incest’s sin
Inception of the sixth sense
Incense sick sensations
Scarred like a sensei’s shin
Third rock finish only six days in
Rested on the seventh like a sick day in
In Days Inn room I predict they sin
A little acid out the big basin
I took the trip that shifts majins
You see Z’s, I see two 7’s
A triangle’s a 7 in reflection

Breh. Oh my God. This shit is just so fucking fun to listen to. I never knew someone could make such an interesting song about numbers. This song is fucking incredible. This is easily one of the best songs I’ve heard all year.

One is a phallus, zero is a yoni
They made 8 kids and the family is growing

I have zero complaints with this song. I think this shit is fucking marvelous.

12. Mic El JahXsun produced by D. Polo

I’m just gonna say it right now… This is my favorite song of the week. This shit is fucking incredible. Cambatta is an elite level MC. This shit is next level. Not only are his rhymes amazing, but just the weird ass aggressive, yet simultaneously ominous delivery is so fucking dope. He reminds me of Berserker from Soul Calibur 2.

That’s probably not something you’ll understand unless you’ve played the game. I mean it as a compliment though. Lyrically, the song is pretty much just him describing the idiosyncrasies of Michael Jackson’s life, including abuse from his father, plastic surgery, vitiligo, his child-like demeanor, accusations of pedophilia, etc. It’s wild.

Michael Jackson
Man’s body that a child’s trapped in
Instead of playing it’s most likely practice
Joseph hit me with a violent thrashing, work us like we addicts
Spirit stifled stagnant, DADDY I AIN’T F████T
I give a kid a hug, people think I’m trying to grab him
Call it pedophile’s actions, but I’m just Michael Jackson
Asexual, inside retracted
Suppressed libido shifts the high mind synaptics
Space time collapses spinning like a cyclone
Twisting like a spiral traveling ’til I’m not spinning
Like a dreidel to a righteous Catholic

I think the song is perfect. The writing is brilliant, his vocal delivery is absolutely mesmerizing, and the flow is pristine. Shoutout to D. Polo on the beat too. The dark production is the perfect backdrop for Cambatta. The album is called LSD: Lunar Solar Duality, and it’s officially releasing on July 21st. I can tell you already that it’s some of the best Hip Hop you’ll hear all year. You do not want to miss this shit. This song is dope af.

13. L.S.D… produced by O.P. Supa

This is yet another amazing highlight. I didn’t take the time to count, but this song contains an onslaught of different acronyms for LSD. I love the dark, kind of fucked up sounding production on this track, and of course Cambatta slaughtered it.

What is LSD, but a Little Strip of Destiny

When the Lonely Silence is Deafening

And my Living Situation is Depressing me

I’m repaying the Lord’s Spiritual Debt to me

First time a took a Lethal Sized Dose

But never will I Load Syringes with Dope

I remember being Lost, Scared, Delusional

Seen the same Laws the Soothsayer Drew us to

The entire song is just stuffed with lines like these, and it’s fucking awesome. This dude is a fucking monster, man. I don’t know how the hell he raps like this, but he must’ve evolved past the homosapien-sapien level. This is some next level shit. I fucking love it.

Every time I Let Semen Drop

I create a Legacy of Super Demigods

I’m Luke Skywalker’s Daddy

My red Light Saber’s Darth

My Laboratory’s Secluded in Dark

Lyrics Sick as Dysentery

I’m a Living Speaking Dictionary

Mental Lexicon Sumerian Dialect

I see the image Like Spike Directs

These lines that I’ve quoted are just a drop in the bucket of brilliant lyrics. I think the song is incredible, and it’s probably in my top five songs on the album, which is saying a lot. This shit is dope af.

14. Lunar Soular featuring Songbird produced by Piff James & E. Bass

I really love the lighter production on this track. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m just gonna say that this song is incredible, and that Cambatta slaughtered this shit.

Lunar Soular

I never knew the mood could have a human owner

Tie a noose around the sun and pull, and move it closer

You ain’t dark as me, you better move below us

I’m just repeating what the Sufi told us

Do it for the students and the future holders

The foolish youth become the stupid grown ups

Hard truth provoker; chew it, you could lose a molar

View the solar, bloom into a supernova

The vocals from Songbird on the hook are great. Honestly, even if her singing wasn’t that good I would still love this song because the rapping is just that good.

Evangelize

With the passion of the first time Adam gazed deep in Eve’s angel eyes

Lookin’ into hers, dilated minds

Innocence died, though I stayed alive

One thing I realized while listening to this song is that the album itself has a sense of duality from a sonic standpoint. I mentioned before that a lot of the songs sound really dark and almost religious in a way, but there are also a lot of songs that are on the opposite side of the same coin. This one for example still sounds rich, but light at the same time. I don’t know if I’m describing it well, or if that was even intentional, but it’s something that I noticed. Anyway, I think the song is amazing, and I have zero complaints with it. This shit is dope af.

15. Psylence of the Lambatta featuring Songbird produced by Eddie Deuce, Nick Price & E. Bass

This song has my favorite beat on the whole project. This is a relatively short song, so I think it’d’ve been a solid choice for a single. The entire album is personal, but this one feels more emotional than a lot of the others.

What’s the meanin’ of it all?

Livin’ in the Bronx where it’s freezin’ in the Fall and police are on the call

Isolated from the people I adore

Family and friends I don’t speak to anymore

Mama struggles, she can’t even get a car

Probably think that I don’t need her anymore

I’m just workin’ out my demons with the lord

Put ‘em deep into a song, like I bleed when I record

It’s hard to tell with an album like this that has so many highlights, but part of me wants to say that this would be in my top five favorite tracks. Songbird’s background vocals during the hook are nice, and I love that line from Cambatta where he says “nothing makes saints like a sinner can.” He gets really personal about his relationships with his family in the second verse. I mean, he was kinda already touching on it on the first verse, but it feels more in depth on the second one. Like I said, this is one of my favorite songs on the album. I think this shit is dope af.

16. Wings of Icarus featuring Jamall Ray produced by Bvtman

This song is weird as hell. It sounds like this scene from the movie Avatar, but in the form of music…

It’s mainly because of the autotuned vocals on the hook.

Finally I’m flying

I just grew my wings

Heaven is so beautiful

I just realized I died and now I’m free

The dreamy, jazzy production on this track is fantastic; It actually kinda sounds like something that could’ve been on the latest Childish Gambino album. I love Cambatta’s melodic delivery on the first verse. The song just sounds like transcendence, which of course really fits with the psychedelic theme of the album. I think it’s a really pretty outro, and I have zero issues with it. This shit is dope as fuck.

This is the best album I’ve heard all year. In fact, I’d probably say this is better than any extended plays I’ve heard as well. This shit is damn near perfect to me. Cambatta had me hooked the entire time. I was on the edge of my seat listening to this project, trying to catch every single line. Damn near every fucking lyric on the album is a quotable bar. There are more quotable bars on this album than a lot of artists have in their entire careers. The dude’s got some stiff competition, but I really don’t know if anyone will be able to top this in 2020. I seriously hope people don’t put off listening to this album just because it’s long. The runtime is more than justified. After listening to this project, I felt like I had just come down from a super intense trip. This is from someone who’s never experimented with psychedelics by the way. I’m basically just trying to say that this album feels like a chaotic journey. I felt like I’d really been through some wild shit by the time it was over. I love when albums have that effect on me. Writing about it has been just as rewarding as my first listen as well. I love when artists are able to make me have fun like this. I really enjoyed everything about this project. The trippy themes of spirituality and existence were super interesting, and this is coming from someone who is strictly secular. Usually when people talk about spirituality it makes me roll my eyes, but I fucking love this shit. This album fucked my mind, but in the best way possible. Do not sleep on this shit. If you’ve read this entire review and you aren’t even mildly interested in checking it out, I’ve failed. I can’t compliment it enough. I think it’s incredible.

FAVORITE SONG: GRAND NUMBER THEORAM (GNT 1;1)
LEAST FAVORITE SONG: 24OURS (DAY&NIGHT)

SCORE: 97 (A+)