Black Thought’s creative run continues. Last year’s Danger Mouse link-up ‘Cheat Codes’ became a breakout success, lauded by 6Music alongside a host of critical outlets, and he digs into those funky roots once more on this full-length El Michels Affair team-up.
Endlessly entertaining, singles like ‘Grateful’ illustrate the MC’s ability to punch out a killer chorus while rooted in that old school appeal. There’s an emphatic directness to his approach, but Black Thought never turns down the opportunity for an extended metaphor – verbose and eloquent, he remains one of the best around right now.
Son Little guests on ‘Protocol’, but album strays away from feature culture, and instead the light is refreshingly shone on the symbiotic studio link between MC and producer. Crate-digging feats are placed alongside cutting-edge ventures, with El Michels Affair bringing some resolute funk to the Big Crown project.
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Oddly timeless, songs like the superb title track are amongst the best either party has placed their name against. Black Thought says it best when he spits: “I’m too Black for y’all to erase / Shoot too straight for y’all to replace / Too abstract for y’all to retrace…”
Thrillingly consistent, the record holds the pace right from first note to last. A mid-album run pivots between ‘Protocol’ and the excellent ‘I Would Never’, the two parties continually challenging one another. Song lengths are kept succinct – ‘I’m Still Somehow’ is only 124 seconds long – meaning that ideas are punched out, defined, and then replaced. It’s an exhilarating blast of funky creativity.
A word, too, for the ever-resistant consistency that cinematic soul outfit El Michels Affair apply to their art – the group’s third album in three years, they never once let standards slip. All in all, the aptly titled ‘Glorious Game’ is a punchy LP with considerable replay value.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
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