Coming off a string of fan-clamoring mixtapes, Curren$y finally gets around to putting out an album all his own. After being bumped around on larger labels for years, and still not getting the recognition that he deserved, he has finally found a home where he can lay his quick drawl over beats that match his fiery imagination. The stoner-leanings are inevitable, and not altogether inaccurate, but to peg him as just another blunt-favoring, southern rapper would be to reveal only a very slight picture of Curren$y's musical vocabulary and persona. Pulling from every corner of his mind, Curren$y envelopes himself, with help from producer Ski Beatz, in these songs and comes away with a breezy, carefree album that just drifts along on the strength of his creativity. The blaring horns and album-stealing guest spot from Jay Electronica on the album highlight "The Day" only seem to highlight what was missing from most rap releases this year. By allowing him to be in the forefront of each of these songs, producer Ski Beatz wisely realized that without the backbone that Curren$y provides, even with his inimitable producing abilities, these songs would sound weak and more than a little slight. Pilot Talk shows a performer finally coming into his own, finally being allowed to, and all he wants, really, is to sit around and have some fun.
Curren$sy also had the audacity to release a sequel to Pilot Talk at the close of 2010 and while I'm specifically placing the first Pilot Talk on this list, Pilot Talk II deserves a quick mention. Pilot Talk II successfully continues the quick-witted, lackadaisical feel of the original while also adding some more diversity in terms of his musical palette; he also chose to go for a less crowded album, as there are practically no guest spots on Pilot Talk II, which is never a bad thing when we're talking about this guy. So regardless of which album you begin with, although I would suggest going chronologically, the wide-eyed wonder and sense of ease these albums warmly radiate will be exactly what you need to get you through the cold days of winter.
Tracklisting:
01. King Kong
02. Life Under the Scope
03. Seat Change f/ Wiz Khalifa
04. The Hangover
05. Chilled Coughphee f/ Devin the Dude
06. Example
07. The Day f/ Mos Def & Jay Electronica (listen to the mp3 below)
08. Scaling the Building
09. Schoolin
10. Silence f/ McKenzie Eddy & Wiz Khalifa
11. Nothing But Us
12. Breakfast
13. Audio Dope
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