Had The Listening on a couple of times. Love this record and between this, The Minstrel Show and Foreign Exchange’s Connected these guys can be pretty proud about what they achieved. All low key classics for me. Phonte is a decent rapper and his singing ability sets him out from the boom bap crowd a bit. Bits of his latest album hint towards directions where he could still be relevant in the rap landscape today. Rapper Big Pooh wouldn’t have a career without 9th but he’s pleasant to listen to.
As everyone says, the production is the major selling point. Like a warm bath the whole way through, or like the memories of a sunny afternoon chilling with a bunch of mates digging through a crate of old soul records. Love the way he chops, clips and layers his samples. Seems he’s had some renewed interest in his production with credits like those on DAMN. and Malibu. Let’s hope he continues to work with some more interesting new voices than make another album with Murs (as good as the first one is, no one needed half a dozen of them).
Over time I’ve come to prefer The Minstrel Show. For me it just has a bit more character, playfulness and pop sensibility. But yah both records are lovely.
