Review: Swizz Beatz - Poison
Release Date: Nov 2nd 2018
Label: Epic
Album Link:
I was not at all expecting to review this album, nor was I expecting to hear it. Swizz Beatz, though he is a legendary producer in modern Hip-Hop, is not known to release actual albums. He typically just works production and raps on others songs. The only other album he has ever released is 2007's One Man Band Man. I pretty much exclusively know him from his production work on 2000's Kanye albums and Rick Ross albums, and he is always recognizable in his production style, which is often very slick and varied; mixing new sounds and old soul samples. His voice is also distinct, husky and dark, he sounds more like an old man than he does a skinny 30-something.
Poison is his newest album, and is only 32 minutes long but Swizz says he had "70 songs ready for this album" and decided to cut it down to 10. Though he left the purported Kanye/Bono song, and a same-song showcase of Jay Z, Nas, DMX, and Jadakiss on the cutting room floor, the album remains a concise and enjoyable experience filled with great beats and great verses from it's many guests, despites it's faltering in the consistency category.
Right out of the gate, you might be forgetting the fact that the album is lacking the aforementioned two tracks that might blow this album to the top virally, because "Poison Intro" could effectively prepare you for the album of a lifetime, it's grandiosity and a spoken word poem by Brit Áine Zion aid the track in working wonders to leave you wondering what you are in for. Immediately following, "Pistol On My Side (P.O.M.S.)" is a classic sounding Swizz Beatz song production wise, the rhythm section sounds practically identical to "So Appalled"; though I won't call it a bad thing, cause it sounds great. Lil Wayne leaves a lot to be desired as per usual (IMO), his verse is okay but it ends up relying up on repetition of the title which with Wayne's voice can end up getting very grating.
"Come Again" is a great sounding grime influenced track, credibly helped by the Giggs feature, I haven't fully decided if I like Giggs yet. He has a great voice and his rhymes are good, I just don't think he's my cup of tea. Though this is a great song, I find myself cringing at Swizz Beatz use of some strictly UK slang. It just comes off as slightly disconnected and trying too hard.
Now we come to the mighty 3-peat of the album. "Something Dirty/Pic Got Us" starts it off with a stacked feature list of Kendrick Lamar, Jadakiss, and Styles P who I haven't heard from since Rick Ross' Teflon Don days. Everyone provides equally to this track, and contributes to making it one of the standout songs on the album. Kendrick's verse is great as always, and the trade-offs between Jadakiss and Styles P sound like a natural combination. "Preach" follows and is a simple and stripped down song to showcase a couple fantastic verses from guest Jim Jones, Swizz provides the hook here and it suits his voice well. "Echo" deserves it's own introduction, and Swizz does the honours. Rapping his verse, he reminds us "Nas is one of the greatest!" before we get both the best production on the album and the best feature. Nas is such a great storyteller and flows so nicely over this kind of smooth production. I will admit that I was waiting for a big drums section to kick in when the beat rode on for a bit, but in afterthought I like it's understated nature.
Pusha T again is another rapper known for delivering heavy and hard-hitting verses, and based on this past year's Daytona we know he can do his work on shorter songs, though I was surprised to see the songs on the back half of this album get a bit longer than the first. His contribution can be found on "Cold Blooded", it is here that I realize that though there are a lot of great songs on the album, it has absolutely no structure. If I had doubts about Swizz Beatz proclamation that he had "70 songs" ready for this album, I might believe him more after hearing the album. The only commonality these songs have with each other is the production style and generally good guest verses. Up next is the Young Thug featuring "25 Soldiers", it's alright but definitely not up to snuff when compared to the rest of the album. Thug is a good feature for this kind of song, and it is refreshing to hear him rap a straight up verse with little experimentation.
If anything, the funniest song on the album, we have "Stunt". It is generally just a "flex" song featuring the consistent but boring 2 Chainz. Why is it notable? The hook:
"Boo-boo said she want a Bugatti for her birthday!
A Bugatti for her birthday?
...Goddamn...
(What you do?)
I GOT TWO FOR HER BIRTHDAY!"
Gold, I say.
Rounding out the album is "SWIZZMONTANA", the worst song on the album. It follows the same rhythm patterns as "So Appalled" and "P.O.M.S", but not as good. It doesn't help that the feature is French Montana. It's just a sort of weak way to end a pretty strong album otherwise. This album has some really good moments, and I appreciate the amount of purist Hip-Hop on the album, though I don't decry "mumble-rap" as Rap's bane it is nice to hear a glitzy sounding 2000's era rap album released in 2018.
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