Review Summary: Raised-by-the-Internet-and-had-no-Dad rap.
You've probably heard this phrase a few too many times.
"I like such-and-such band, but you've probably never heard of them". If someone loved Injury Reserve, that's a phrase they likely used with their friends. Their last album was great, but the splash it made in the rap community was small. However, one of the most satisfying things that a music fan can experience is watching their favorite musical act rise beyond the underground status. They watch a band have a standout album, or a hit or two that grazes just the right spot, and the band achieves an elevated status.
That's what Injury Reserve did in the span of a year and a half. Their debut, Live From The Dentist Office, was a great album that brought astonishing production and peanut-butter hooks to the table. Almost exactly one year later, they dropped
Oh Shit!!! which showcased the trunk-knocking abilities of the whole group. For six months, people got more and more excited for the next album. Now we have
Floss, which is at least two notches better than what anyone had hoped.
Oh Shit!!! was the best song to use as the opening track, since it takes less than 60 seconds to get that listener in a certain mood. The animalistic voices and hyperactive delivery don't offer any choice but to start nodding your head. From this point, it is banger after banger. Nearly every song is full of clever rhymes and powerful hooks that beat their way into the brain.
All This Money is a shopping anthem reminiscent of Macklemore's breakout single, and it uses repetition to its own advantage.
What's Goodie features a verse from Cakes Da Killa, who ends up owning the entire song with an unbelievable performance.
Eeny Meeny Miny Moe bursts through with an instrumental that calls back to Nine Inch Nails from the 90's. The lyrics themselves reference the immense popularity IR got from
Oh Shit!!! in the underground community.
If the tracks on
Floss aren't strong through complex instrumentals and seamless lyrics, they're strong emotionally. The track
Keep On Slippin builds on a smooth vocal melody from one of the rappers, and discusses the subject of letting yourself down. It talks about being on the right track, and getting so confident in yourself that losing control is inevitable. The final track on the album is
Look Mama I Did It, a bittersweet but vivid song.
Floss, as a whole, builds up to this moment of release. IR has garnered a lot of fans through their music, and this last song tells stories of what happens when this popularity weaves itself into family life.
There are far more than enough highs on
Floss to make up for the few lows. The track
S On Ya Chest has an off-kilter last half, where two verses attempt to intertwine, and pitched-up vocals carry the song to the outro. It's a bit unsettling, and it's a sharp contrast to the rest of the song. However, there's still an extremely potent ability to produce phenomenal songs displayed all over
Floss. IR released their debut album, realized what parts of it weren't so great, and fixed it. With only two albums, they have proven themselves a trio to be reckoned with, and it has hipsters and regular hip-hop fans alike wondering what's next.
