Joell Ortiz is fully a student of New York hip hop, and he wears those influences on his sleeve in his new album That’s Hip Hop. That means dope lyricism that never slows down throughout the album and some OG features in the likes of Billy Danze and Kool G Rap. Fans of turntablism will also be pleasantly surprised to find some work on the ones and twos throughout the album.
The beats are fairly old school as well, favoring more mid-tempo boom-bap sounds over trap’s quick snares and booming bass. The most fast-paced part of the album comes from the album’s lyrical buzzsaw of a single, “Kill at Will” featuring Token.
This release is the culmination of freestyles over “Summer Sixteen” and “Panda,” and the official video for “Precious” featuring Raven Felix.
