Breakfast, Lunch, AND Dinner

Never sleep on New Jersey. It was listening to more Joe Budden that taught me this important lesson a few years back. I’d subconsciously known this because of how much I actually liked Redman back in the day. Malpractice was one of my favorite albums from him. Maybe this was one of the reasons I was interested to review his mixtape.

The title threw me at first.

Pancake And Syrup.

In the way of breakfast it’s a delicious combination that I personally can’t resist. So in a quiet place in my mind I figured that expecting the same wasn’t too much of a stretch. So I listened.

The verdict? Loved it. His delivery and his amazing sense of humor within his lyrics are still alive in this new effort. That can be appreciated because some rappers try to change themselves to spotty results. The person that immediately comes to mind at that statement is North Carolina rapper Petey Pablo.

But back to Redman.

Let me show you the good stuff.

-“I’m Straight (Freestyle)”-The start of this plays like a radio DJ’s introduction. Then an epic beat comes through, a beat from a song I loved when T.I. first rapped over it with B.G. and Young Jeezy. Red touches it with the pure essence of the Brick City. A favorite line is this one: I’m stupid/My voice box is built with acoustics/ Reggie Noble’s back/Memo niggas the blueprint. It was an amazing redo on something that was already amazing.

-“Def Jammable”-There is something off and weird about the production of the beat, something I love. His lyricism is in full display here. It hits you as the perfect return track from a returning legend. The lyrics brag at the perfect level but at the same time gives you his cockiness pure and uncut.

-“Pancake And Syrup”-The GillaHouse family is in full effect on this track. I love the beat that was chosen. Offhand I detect a touch of Auto-Tune in the chorus performed by Redman. I also understand what ‘pancake and syrup’ actually is in context to everything. Ready Roc sheds light on it for me saying: I love getting high/You can call me an addict/ ‘Cause that pancake and syrup/I just gotta have it / And I know a lot of people/Don’t know what I mean/That’s when you pop a pill/And wash it down with some lean. Runt Dawg also checks in with a smooth flow that you could float on.

Redman is back. I can put no finer point on it. Pancake And Syrup is proof of that but I think I’ll just listen to it, maybe eat them together and avoid the type that Ready Roc mentioned. Life and music get me high enough.