Review Summary: I make millions from entertainment, yo.
Boy, do I loathe useless “super-”heroes. They really get on my nerves. As conceptually cool as guys like Iron Man and Batman are, they aren’t really super at all. If I had a cool warrior suit, or millions of dollars to fund crime fighting gadgets, I could be a superhero too…well, not with the second option, but still. At least Batman and Ironman have to make decisions with their technological gimmicks. Not like that douche Green Lantern. That guy just lets his ring do all the work; he's just along for the ride. He’s basically just a slightly manlier version of the Wonder Twins, and those guys sucked. Not surprisingly, his Rap counterpart, DJ Green Lantern, is also not-so-super, exactly like the comic character from which he derived his name from. DJ Green Lantern’s power lies not inside his persona, but within the beats he just tags along to.
But I can forgive him that, because while I’m not a big fan of the east coast or NYC, and especially not a fan of Styles P, the instrumentals throughout this album are spectacular. The dark, synthesizer-led production, that backs Styles P’s street philosophy, is comprised of good beats through and through. Highlight tracks include groovy, mini-organ synths, thumping percussion by Pablo Doe, and the gentle piano sample to twinkly synths transition and sharp tamberine of Legal Money lead the charge as the best beats of an album with great production.
Styles P, being a good enough street lyricist (“
My niggas run the underworld, just like the Lycans/I’m good with a sword like a ninja or Viking/A nigga die harder than Bruce/Fly by in the coupe/Get high spent my life in the booth,”), seems perfectly fit to knock these beats out of the park. But, as an actual rapper, Styles P has some definite shortages. His flow isn’t bad, but it isn’t really special either; his delivery is so blasé and bland; and his mid-spectrum, New Yorker voice isn’t riveting or particularly memorable.
In addition, this album has some average filler tracks – like the R&B track, Pretty Little Thing, and the run of the mill Real Ghostly – but Styles P has the decency to space them out between good songs at about a 2.5:1 good-to-bad ratio. Although this isn’t really all that admirable or desirable, it prevents the album feeling bad or lazily done.
In conclusion, on this album, Styles P delivers some good lyrics, although they aren’t exactly what you’d call remarkable. The beats are what steal the show and make The Green Ghost Project what it is - a well worth listening to hip hop album.
