Royal Flush-------Grand Capo

Royal Flush-Grand Capo-Independent-(2014)

Artist: Royal Flush

Album: Grand Capo

Label: Independent  

Producers: Grand Papa Tra

In this industry, it’s difficult making the right moves without playing the right hands. Unless you got a royal flush, that’s the only way to win through the industry. Flushing’s Royal Flush is not new to this. The critically acclaimed, highly influenced album Ghetto Millionaire motivated the borough of Queens on a new level as Royal Flush introduced the Cristal, Iced Down Medallion era before anyone ever heard of it. One thing about Royal Flush is he knows how to structure a hip hop album. Ghetto Millionaire is a perfect example of how albums should be constructed with street lyrical wizardry and diverse head nodding production. This time around, the governor of Queens teams up with producer Grand Papa Tra on his 2014 opus Grand Capo.

            With all the ammo resonated on this album, Royal Flush is not pulling any punches. The intro with the late Old Dirty Bastard is the perfect lead off to introduce to the grim street infused first single Shadow of the Streets where Flush and Brooklyn’s Illa Ghee trade blows which paints an eerie picture of the street life. Flush knows how to pick the right people to assist with over hard hitting production providing by Grand Papa Tra. Starvin B tag teams with Royal Flush exposing the fake rappers creepy them with the Evil Spirit and on the eerie piano track Swarm Music while Flush brings in Nutso to rep the hood the right way on Flushtown. Grand Papa Tra knows how to deliver the right production that matches Flush’s lyrical cadence. The hard organic dusty drum lines cause Royal Flush to body the track on the solo tip on tracks like Autobiography and Keep It Live. 

The vibe of the album continues on a hip hop nostalgic sound with awesome lyrical chemistry to production. Sean Price gives the assist on Beasting and on the hard knocking This Is Killing Everyone where Flush and Pop Severe trade lyrics on the street level. Flush keeps the fiery momentum on this project and brings the style of Ghetto Millionaire to essence on tracks like MFM with Flushing brethren Mic Geronimo and Mic Handz, Hoodness part 2 featuring Bam where Flush loses faith on the new wave of hip hop: cuz I’m gonna show you how to do it like a terrorist/mark man head off the roof heads severing. To end the project, the jazzy up tempo Hip Hop where he shows these new cats how it’s done from a legend’s perspective by bringing it back to the real hip hop: is it me or everyone want to rap now/and a lot of producers got these wack sounds (definitely co-signing this line) to Flush’s witty punch line: I spit that hot shit, hot like a fucking razor/and leave your body black and red like I own the Blazers while Stayin Alive sends featuring Noble and Pop Severe where Royal Flush spits the story like reminiscing of the days growing up on the dark moody production with the Raekwon echoes crime side the new york times side sampled perfectly.

            Grand Capo brings back the essence of the golden era with dope dusty drums, moody production and sharp lyrical content. Royal Flush still got the lyrical wordplay that sends artists back to the booth. This is a strong project with the New York hip hop feel that many fans want to here. Fourteen tracks put together perfectly by Flush knowing how to pick the right beats entirely produced by Grand Papa Tra and selecting the right guest appearances to construct a solid album. The theme towards Grand Capo is from spitting sixteens to hood story infused tracks that keep listeners in a trance. This is what you get, a solid hip hop album that will keep heads nodding to track after track from start to finish. Grand Capo is an impressive album that establishes the love of hip hop that fans want back.

            Strong Tracks: “Shadow To The Streets”, “Evil Spirit”, “Flushtown”, “Autobiography”, “Keep It Live”, “Sucka Free”, “Hoodness part2”, “MFM”, “This Is Killing Everyone”, “Hip Hop”, “Stayin Alive”

                Rating:out of

Go cop that Royal Flush album Grand Capo on Bandcamp