Slick 2H Rick – 2H (THE ALBUM) (Album Review)

In today’s review, we shall come across a rapper who has been in the scene since 1983. The rapper in question is Slick 2H Rick, hailing from Brooklyn, New York. His music aims to balance a party vibe with real messages, whether it’s hype tracks about girls and nightlife or serious bars that carry weight and truth. He’s also known for a chill but commanding presence, bringing energy, rhythm and authenticity to every beat. In this instance, he’s released an album titled 2H, with a unique twist blending hip-hop, rap, Afrobeats and Afro-fusion.

The album begins with a track, ‘YouSaidGoodbye’ that waxes lyrical about a relationship ending and one’s unrelenting love for an individual saying goodbye to their lover. The production on the track is quite dated and unfortunately cheesy, with overtly MIDI-sounding strings and percussion that sounds like it’s from a basic pack in a DAW. The rhymes are quite compelling, telling the story of the situation, but I can’t lie about the delivery- I don’t think it’ll appeal to a lot of people in this day and age. The vocalist tries to add some dimension to the song, but her vocals are unfortunately quite flat.

Afterwards, ‘Who Am I’ starts off afterwards with a more promising production, with more dimension and slight percussion syncopation akin to Timbaland’s earlier work. It has more depth, and more potential, but the vocalist’s voice is also not very well-mastered in this particular track. Her vocals have more improvement, reminding me a little bit of Lana del Rey’s monotonous delivery. Slick 2H Rick’s delivery in this track is not particularly impressive, sounding offbeat at times.

‘African Beauty’ saves the album a little bit, with much better production, but the vocalist isn’t very impressive- once again, not entirely mastered perfectly, but with a syncopation okay enough to match the Amapiano-esque instrumental. In fact, this isn’t Afrobeats, this is somewhat of an Amapiano fusion track. The log drums aim to punch, but Slick 2H Rick’s delivery needs a bit more rhythm to it. He improves in this track as the backing is also a bit monotonous, but there’s not much to it. ‘2H’ follows through with an instrumental that informs you that the tone of the track is a bit more serious. The lyrics are a bit more confrontational, cementing Slick 2H Rick’s status as an OG in the industry. I’d say the song ‘Treat ‘Em Right’ afterwards is one of the best tracks on this album, as the rhythm and the composition of the song FINALLY fits the style of rap he’s going for. It sounds like a modern rehashing of hip-hop tracks from the 80s and the 90s, which is where he shines. The track supports the flow of the delivery and it is somewhat harmonious.

The track ‘Higher (Che Che)‘ with Boni Fass once again, takes the Amapiano fusion style that this time, borrows heavily from the Yaba Buluku Boys and DJ Tarico’s style of Mozpiano. Once again, I have no issue with the instrumental, but both the vocalist and the rapper does not necessarily uphold the track to me. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. As someone actually with contacts in the industry the vocals and the rapping sequence would not necessarily make it out of somebody’s Bluetooth speaker near Aratumi market, let alone Mozambique or South Africa. Kudos to whoever produced the track though.

The tracks ‘Lil Bougie’ and ‘Bounce It’ both support compositional techniques that remind me of the rap scene from the early to mid 2010s. I think there’s a market for people who are into that particular subset of music.

At the end of this, I’m well aware that the artist may get upset with me and use their high number of Spotify listeners to justify their art. At the end of the day, I’m a reviewer, not a promoter, and this is an interpretation of your music. Don’t let my words take you down and keep doing what you do.

SCORE/Mediocre: Slick 2H Rick tries to mix an OG style of rap with newer music trends, and some musical trends from the early 2010s, but he shines best in tracks that honor the OG style of rap because the backing track supports the lyrical delivery. Unfortunately, most of the album suffers from a delivery to instrumental mismatch or nothing necessarily unique in the world of rap besides the poignant attempt at lyricism.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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