Every now and then I forget to add a link, word or stream when making a post. When it's really bad I become Loaf God and forget to post entire projects whether due to a busy schedule or just pure laziness. Unfortunately this is one of those times. I found myself listening to BELIEVE today by the great Cal Rips and thought "Damn I forgot how good this was, let me go tweet the link to the post" and much to my dismay there was no post to link. I really don't know how I forgot but I figured better late than never (although some might disagree).
Production wise this is definitely Cal's strongest project yet, everything transitions well. This is one of those rare tapes that you can run front to back without skipping a track or two. Cal never lets the album get stale, as soon as you're thinking the project is getting too somber, he picks it back up. Thanks to producers such as Matt McGhee, Day X and rMell who are behind two of my personal favorites "Winning" and "Flashing" and Clayt Da Great who is behind most of the tape's highlight tracks.
I always talk about progression when it comes to Cal but this time around it's different. Cloud X to #Thumbs Up was a slight improvement, Chemical X was a major one. With each tape Cal got better, either with beat selection, lyrically or content wise, on BELIEVE it's more of a matter of being consistent. He's come into his own as a artist he knows what works and what doesn't. This tape is more of a refinement of already shown skills and that isn't a bad thing at all. Cal is a great rapper and if his last project showed promise, this one proves it.
All in all BELIEVE will make you exactly do that, not only in Cal as a rapper but as a true artist.
Standout Tracks: Winning, Flashing, Match 1, AV & Deuce Bigalow
FINAL VERDICT
+ Great production and raps
+ Very cohesive (front to back no skips)
+ Strong content
+ Good guest features
- Sound quality on some tracks
- Not rapping on that jazzy ass intro (lol)
8.5/10 [Recommend Listen & Download]
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