Hip-hop albums these days are almost a dime a dozen, or if anything, you have to dig much deeper to find the music that you know you’ll love, and not love it just because the masses are into it. L’Orange & Stik Figa represents the type of hip-hop that is harder, crisper, and for all intents and purposes, what people would call “the dope shit”. Here, that dope shit is called The City Under The City (Mello Music Group) and it comes from writing and saying lyrics and words that sound like they’re life experiences, not something that is meant to be hashtag rap or nothing but a massive list of keywords. They are diary entries from the pages of one Stik Figa, showing how he is more than just a figure in the shadows and a human with emotions and concerns that will touch those who enjoy tight flows, puzzle schemes, and the transformations of concerns to dreams. Producer L’Orange sketches out his path while creating diagrams for Stik Figa’s lyrics and together they create something that sounds like something they worked together, and not just something that was thrown or dropped into a studio and “just add water”. One of the best moments on The City Under The City is when Rapsody stops in to share advice in “Before Midnight”, but cameos from Open Mike Eagle, 7evenThirty, and Has-Lo are great listens too. This is about hard times understanding there is much better around the corner, even if that corner seems like an endless circle. Even underneath the concrete, there is life when it is sought.
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This Is Book's Music 