He was also a member of 504 Boyz and made multiple appearances on Master P’s “Good Side, Bad Side” record in 2004. It all adds up to a woozy waft of a record- a perfect listen for mid-summer, when breathing in the humid air is almost enough to get you high.Born on 4 April 1981, Curren$y signed with Master P’s No Limit Records in 2002. The whole thing is over in about 45 minutes. About half the songs drift by without choruses, and the other half only barely have anything you could call a chorus. and an on-fire Jay Electronica, who offers the album's most energetic moment. And on "King Kong", he offers this: "Upstate New York, Woodstock, Saugerties/ The view from my rocking chair you would not believe."Ī few famous guests turn up on the album (Snoop Dogg, Mos Def), but most of those sitting in are friends like Trademark or underground peers like Big K.R.I.T. On "Roasted", he offers an enthusiastic endorsement of the lemonade at the Tribeca restaurant Bubby's ("not that Minute Maid crap, they squeeze these lemons theyself"). On "Skybourne", he brags about how well-trained his dogs are.
There's a lot of talk about money and girls on Pilot Talk- and a whole lot of talk about weed- but my favorite moments come when Curren$y takes delight in some random nonsense. And that's a great rap voice, just perfect for these wry little observations that he's so good at. Even though his delivery and persona couldn't be more different, he's got almost the same accent as B.G., another former Cash Money guy. And Curren$y just inhabits this sonic wonderland, letting his voice sink deep into every track. It's so goddamn pretty throughout, all those guitars and pianos and organs and horns layered on top of each other. There's a lush, languid, almost psych-rock feel to the album. Ski's tracks can be breathtakingly gorgeous without ever getting in Curren$y's way. Musically, Pilot Talk is a warm, low-key affair. And in a way, Pilot Talk strikes some of the same chords as Uptown- smart kids bullshitting with each other, using rap to play around with language and talk as much fly shit as possible. Ski, best known for the beats he contributed to Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, is even more beloved for Uptown Saturday Night, the album from the linguistically forward NYC duo Camp Lo that he helmed. Pilot Talk finds Curren$y working almost exclusively with 90s New York producer Ski Beatz- an unexpected but inspired collaborative pairing.
Like friend and frequent collaborator Wiz Khalifa, he's become one of the dominant voices in the rap underground by making a form of unassuming stoner-rap that owes virtually nothing to J Dilla. Over a few years' worth of heavy mixtape-circuit work, he's become a great rapper with his own aesthetic- he's a nimble, affectless drawler who favors airy, spaced-out beats. And he presumably did it so he could clear his own path, rapping about the stuff he actually cared about. But he left the label just as Wayne was becoming the most popular rapper in the world.
The New Orleans rapper got his start in Master P's then-waning No Limit empire, then jumped to Cash Money, playing foil and second banana to Lil Wayne during Wayne's historic mixtape run a few years back. Curren$y's also had a weird, bounced-around career.