Even in comparison to his fellow hyper-prolific members of Griselda, Boldy James has a staggering rate of output. Just in May, the Detroit rapper released Killing Nothing with Real Bad Man, a 13-song LP with features from Knowledge The Pirate, CRIMEAPPLE, and more. In the year prior, he dropped Bo Jackson and Super Tecmo Bo, both collaborations with The Alchemist. In 2020, he dropped a whopping three albums.
But all of that is not to say that a Boldy drop isn’t exciting. On Fair Exchange No Robbery, James teams up with producer Nicholas Craven, who has an Alchemist-esque sensibility, delivering Boldy sample-heavy instrumentals that perfectly compliment the rapper’s matter-of-fact delivery.
Fair Exchange is a mellow listen, just as its cover art would indicate. The samples selected by Craven are largely warm and inviting 70s deep cuts. But the sonics can sometimes be misleading; on “Power Nap,” James’ lyrics are threatening, yet nestled in a lilting lullaby sample.
Check out the project below, and let us know what you think of it in the comments.
Tracklist
- Straight & Tall
- Stuck In Traffic
- Scrabble
- Town & Country
- 0 Trey Nine (feat. Gue Wop)
- Monterey Jack
- Designer Drugs
- Six Toes
- You Ain’t No Menace
- Power Nap