Virghost: No Sleep Under The Circumstances (Album Review)
No sleep starts off with the soothing background of mother nature. Screaming into its nightly ambiance as crickets chirp in unison. Virghost paints a picture of restless nights with the production. A simple yet rhythm plagued beat pattern laced with vivid ticks and faint drums. All blended well with the light yet significant sample. Opening up the production from being simple to genius.
The song "No Sleep" lyrics are clear and passionate. Virghost captures you into his simple flow pattern with heavy chalked lyrics that paint a very prestige picture. He folds through the chapters of his life. Following the trails, and triumphs that mold together his everyday. Virghost finds peace at where he is as an artist, but will always feel the hunger pains of wanting more. Stuck between the paradigm of chasing his career while maintaining his normal life. His flow pattern stays creative and never grows dull. His chorus is simple yet captivating. Leaving you to indulge in the simplicity of what this record captures. The next piece "Rent Song" immediately drags you into a bluesy coffee shop on the corner of nowhere. The production is laced with a somber piano melody than sits on top. The synthetic sax kisses the production with that extra touch that gleam over the instrumentation. The chorus follows a simple format. Which lacks to have an impact or transition in emotions as it plays simply to the already highly developed scenery set by the production. The song finds its safe place and never develops pass that. Virghost lyrics are realistic which push the hardship theme. The song never seem to capture an element pass its scenery. Although production is excellent and lyrics are very potent. The song never pulls us past the feeling of above moderate. The next song "Goat" kicks us with the familiar yet throwback sound of boom-pap. The production has charm and captures the 1994 feel of NYC hip-hop. Samples are placed perfectly as they lay into the production adding more flavor. Virghost revisits the early Memphis music scenes of an legendary movement called Memphop and his involvement. Hardcore music enthusiast would appreciate his references as he dive deeply into an reminiscent approach of story telling. Virghost flow pattern coast around the same tempo throughout. This song graces all its performance into the verse. Which is delivered in Virghost's common dance of elegance and aggression. His approach is stronger than his usual self-serving lyrical content. Virghost manages to deliver such an climatic experience. A vocally soothing yet lyrically scathing song to hear. Float into the next song "Aviators Theme" which beacons bright from the start. The production instantly sends you chills. The piano lives alone as it stands on stage accompanied by nothing but its own echoes. The smokey production accompanied by the heavy reverb of a synthy guitar touches your soul. The sound is so smooth yet stronger than cocoa cola after a 6 month break from carbonated drinks. The beat patterns play background as the distortion of the instruments grow, leaving the song continuously elevate to higher levels. Chimes and crisp ticks support the rhythm and make this production well rounded on every single aspect. Virghost verse has an complex rhyme scheme and higher tempo than his normal. The aggression is immaculate and drives the record into another level. You can almost feel him running out of air, but never hear his voice crack or stumble. You can truly feel the passion and pain written and performed throughout the record. Virghost performance on his records are god sent. He manages to captures each piece of production, matching his tone, lyrics and even story telling. This song manages to give you that euphoric feeling as the music confiscates your mental space. Virghost chorus is subtle and gives you time to take in the view. Which was needed as his verse and production gave you such an heavy feeling. Finally letting you come up for air after diving deep into the waves. His lyrics are touching, speaking on his past, and love ones that pass. Speaking on his understanding that he is here for a reason. Virghost gives us one of the best records we have heard in many years. "FYM" is the next record on the album. The production is smooth and has more melody than beat. The standard sound for Virghost. It starts to show some similarity towards this moment in the album. The production even though common still feels amazing. The instrumentation is well placed and hypnotizing. It starts with an interview clip where a rapper seems to be confronted on questions about a rap beef. The chorus from Virghost is creative and infectious. Social meme'd infused with the backdrop of golden era hiphop. His voice doubles as it hit the major component to the hook "F*ck You Mean". Virghost lyrics come out to prove a point. Don't challenge his throne, his musical prowess or anything else he claims. His flow pattern is simplistic and coast on the music perfectly. It has a certain bounce that makes it stand out. His feature: Ricache' comes in after Virghost. Ricache's flow is more sporadic and noticeably not as tight as Virghost. His vocal presence is amazing and voice sounds great against the instrumental. The records starts to drag after Ricache passes close to 20 bars. You start to miss the chorus which was such a good part of the song. It felt like a miss to only have it come after both artist verses ended. Ricache flow doesn't really change much after its start and loses its momentum as the song continues to push pass. The verses just seem too long and hurt the piece as a whole. Drop down to "DownTown" where the production is sampled from 90's era RandB. The production is gratifying and the sample that sits in the background is simply amazing. Virghost rushes you into a reminiscent vibe of 2pac with hard vocal infliction laced behind cushioned vocals. The vibe on this song is dope and highly refreshing. His flow pattern is modern and stays entertaining throughout. Lyrics seem to tell a story about a new love interest he cant take his mind off. The chorus is supported by the sample which also plays into the 90's hip-hop format. A greatly constructed song that stays entertaining throughout its journey. "No Good" is the next song on the album. Once again Virghost choice in production is regal. The bass is smooth and the ticks sits directly in the center of production. This instrumental is laced with more rhythm and drums than his usual choices. Virghost verse is slower and takes a different approach. His vocals are wrapped a couple times to amplify the performance. The verse switches styles right after the bridge. Complex, quick and very vivid to ear. We note this as another amazing vocal performance from Virghost. The chorus comes in after and feels simple, but works. It has a more southern sound to it as his lingo approaches as such. The chorus never manages to amplify the piece but neither does it falter. His features: Hippy Soul (Teco Tate-Idi Ah Que) Teco starts off first. His flow pattern is frantic and strong. His vocals are clear and mid-pitched. He switches his flow which keeps you entertain throughout the piece. His lyrics are clever and capture the energy of the song and Virghost. Next was Idi and his flow pattern is totally different. He slowed down the pace of the song and brought a change in direction. His lyrics are more direct with a slight metaphorical canvas. The feature fit perfectly on a song that already stood strong on its own. Drop down to "Facebook" the first thing you notice is the production. Crisp kicks and light piano keys make up the meat of this song. A simplified drum kit that supports Virghost's "freedom flow". His flow is standard and kind of coast around the same pattern and tempo. What shines here is the dynamic story that Virghost tells throughout the song. He speaks on the addictions of social media and how he and other artist are affected. Its perfectly told and delivers on every level. The chorus once again is simplistic but fits the overall feel. The production help carries it, feeling more like a duet between him and the instrumental. Virghost story telling and metaphorical presence makes this song a standout project on the album. Forward to the last song on album "Nas in 96".The production is stella on this song. Funky, clean with a simplified rhythm. Virghost showed throughout this album he has an ear for good production. The instrumental grants you an instant head knod. His flow pattern is aggressive and takes no breaks. His lyrics are strong with ego-driven metaphors that remind you what hip-hop was built from. Nas in 96 is a metaphor or punchline in himself. Showing how powerful Nas influence on hiphop was in 1996. The chorus is amazingly done and has hip-hop splattered all over it. Chunky reverb with stereo effects that echo into an empty backdrop. The last verse is actually a spoken word piece by Virghost. Which is one of the strongest performances on the album. Its so well put together that it still sounds like he is rapping. This song sends you out with chills and Virghost displays his aggression and passion on a level that's unmatched. No sleep is a passionately written album that feels like an artist of today walking through the golden era of hiphop. Virghsost manages to capture 90's in such a organic way it would be hard to tell exactly which era this album was conceived in. Without his insanely developed flow pattern, up to date topics it would be hard to tell. Certain songs touched our soul, going deep into human emotions and caused all of us to react. I literally almost had tears fall from my face on "Aviators Theme". The usage of words and how he forms everything to rhyme so flawlessly. Virghost vocals gives you instant gratification as his control is the best we have judged. Such a soothing sound yet rolled into some of the most aggressively driven lyrics. You fall into a trance as his ability to rap cant be judged or critiqued as its perfect. Sometimes there is no score to give. Choruses seem to fall below the standard of his verses. Sometimes relying to much on the production and not creating selling points through the chorus. But, at the same time that's what we loved about it. It wasn't trying to sell you on anything. It was just a golden driven package of great hiphop. The songs that made us feel good. That had Virghost in a lighter mood, was simply amazing. He drives so much emotion that he has to be careful. When he was angry we where too. When he was happy we where too. Sometimes we missed the lighter feels of the artist as more songs took to the hardships or competition. Virghost: No Sleep is one of the most put together pieces we have ever heard. Production all similar to the theme of the album. Songs driven by lyrical content and vivid story telling. If you slept on Virghost at any point. No Sleep Under no Circumstances will wake any skeptic all the way up.
CLASSIC
4.5/5
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