After a few singles and an EP, Chick Gaynor returns with his first project of the new year LORD $LUG, the follow up to his album ORIGAMI. It's been a while since a project has had me this conflicted on my opinion of it. LORD $LUG is a good project but it is definitely a step back when compared to ORIGAMI, but ORIGAMI shined mainly due to the improvement over Chick's first mixtape Whatever. In no means is LORD $LUG a bad project but it does have its faults, one thing it is lacking is the cohesiveness that ORIGAMI benefited from. It feels much more like an EP comprised of material that Chick has been working on for the past months than a true project. It is almost more comparable to his Slug Gawd: The Lost Memoirs in that sense.
Chick has always been an artist who has shown improvement with each project and while LORD $LUG doesn't improve on too much from Chick's previous works it does enough. One thing that it has over his past projects is replayability, I've listened to it a lot in the weeks since its release and I've yet to tire of it. Whatever and ORIGAMI both lack in this, mainly due in part to production choices. The production featured on LORD $LUG is definitely more upbeat when compared to the melodic melancholy production on ORIGAMI. Thanks to producers such as Louseph Bruise Em', rMell, High Class Filth, Suede Moccasins and Nomad. Although at the same time Chick doesn't stray to far off from the sound that made him, he more or less fine tuned it. Tracks such as "Alexa Chung" show off Chick's humor and his ability to spit over more uptempo production. While "#BushMOB" shows off Chick's more menacing side, as he and Mike of Doom take turns trading bars while sending shots at fellow rappers. As I said earlier, while LORD $LUG does lack the cohesiveness that ORIGAMI had, it does well to show off Chick's versatility as an artist as he tackles various production styles.
Lyrically LORD $LUG is strong, featuring some of his best verses, Chick retains the improvement in lyrics and flow that he showed in past projects. Chick keeps the feature count low this time around, only Mike of Doom and Nomad make appearances with both bringing their own unique talents to their respective tracks. Chick has always had an ability to be personal in his raps and that makes him much more relatable and it truly shows on this tape. The project ends with the excellent "Lama Sabacthani" as Chick laments over the Nomad produced track about his griefs, it is truly moving and in my opinion the best track on LORD $LUG, a definite highlight.
Overall, LORD $LUG is another great project from Chick Gaynor who continues to improve and hone his sound with each project. It'll be interesting to see what he does for his next project but I have no doubts that it'll be his best yet.
Standout Tracks: #BushMOB, Edward Nygma, Alexa Chung, Psalm 27 & Lama Sabacthani
FINAL VERDICT
+ Some of Chick's best work yet
+ High replay value
+ Strong production
+ Digital Booklet featuring lyrics and excellent design
- Lacks cohesiveness
- Short duration
8/10
Stream below or download here
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