Ckeelay rewrites the rulebook on winning on his most aggressive project to date. Things start out relatively strong on the artist’s latest track “G.O.A.T.” which sees the rapper strike a more serious tone over filtered synth plucks and stuttering snare claps.
And the song isn’t a serene listening experience by any measure—and that’s for the best. This is raw, gestural stuff, though there are some ponderous moments in which every rapper on the beat appears to be feeling each other out in the moment. Pecking out tentative lines here and there, they mostly track their own path to prosperity through a minefield.
Ckeelay’s collaborators collectively push against mainstream expectations of rappers, making a bold statement that they are not just some monolith. They simply articulate their flows differently, with a heavy-ish tone, they always maintain a sense of forward motion even if it occasionally seems spasmic.
Ckeelay as a fire-spitter is wickedly assured and highly entertaining. He delivers his wonted precision here, as the other rappers also deliver their savageness by slashing the beat to ribbons. They dart through sharp, fast-moving rhythms to claim their spot in the rap hierarchy.
“G.O.A.T.” is the first single for Ckeelay’s project “Colors Of Coachella, Vol 1” which will be released on all streaming platforms June 26th of 2019. Its impish melody and sing-along hook never settles into one space. It could have been simply a record with any elements put together but its ambitions extend far beyond ticking off the boxes of yesterday’s niche sounds.
Each rapper offers ideas generally thought to be compatible in various ways but fundamentally deepen the mystery of each one’s skill set. Along the way, the rappers aesthetic performances morph and snap sharply into focus, steadily gathering force into a pensive whirlwind that builds and builds.
