As we all know, AKA and ANATII released their joint album ‘Becareful What You Wish For’ this past Friday. We gave the entire album a good listen and we’re excited to present our review of this project.
The album cover
While we thought the album cover will feature images of AKA and ANATII, they decided to go a different direction. It’s no biggie putting together an album art these days, everyone has got their approach and the creativity is just crazy. For this project , AKA and ANATII decided to go for the typography bold look, with the front cover showing a TV screen which shows the title in orange and mellow yellow colour. It’s a simple, clean and neat design which makes it easier to spot on a shelf or streaming app.
The album brings together AKA’s deep lyrical skills and ANATII’s elements of production and melody. The project is packed with 10-tracks including previously released jams; 10 Fingers, Holy Mountain, Don’t Forget To Pray and The Saga. By just looking at the track list you will notice that the project has a stronger religious theme with biblical terminology to the lyricl content.
Unfortunately, there is no featured artist on the album, which is a good move to give both acts enough stage to show off and deliver that well-orchestrated harmony.
Into the Music
The albums opens up with ‘Bryanston Drive’ as the intro. And this is a perfect selection! The jam is laid back with some solid groove and melody. On this jam, AKA is in a good mood and reflects on his winnings and just about counting the blessing with his squad. By saying ‘Now all of my biggest idols are my best friends’ proves how he has managed to succeed in the industry by having his idols in his circle. Anatii adds some sing-along harmony by dropping in Boom Shaka’s 1993 classic chorus ‘It’s about time.’
’10 Fingers’ is already a club anthem presenting some rare sound elements mixed with abit of smooth trap. This one of the songs that paved way for this project and it a major subject.
The lyrical content reflects on the simple principle of taking an oath, where one has to put a hand on the bible and raise the other one. But in this case, AKA and ANATII are talking 10 fingers.
Just like we mentioned, the album has some biblical terminology to it, and we see that with a short symphony titled ‘Psalm.1000.’
‘Don’t Forget to Pray’ is the second release single which paved way for the project and reflects on the album title. Just like ’10 Fingers’ the lyrical content has a religious theme to it, reminding one ‘Don’t forget to pray, God is on the way..’
The sound is quite different from the usual hip-hop flavour. The song introduces new elements on an easy and laid back, groovy beat. AKA throws in major bars and ANATII dropping full verses in Xhosa.
‘Holy Mountain’ is a mellow and soulful jam accompanied by a heavy bassline which brings on some vibey elements, making it a solid jam on this album. On the lyrics, both rappers make ‘blessings’ the subject of the song. Anatii freely shows off his singing and rap skills at same time.
More jams you will vibe to on the project include; How You Like Me Now!?, Angelz, Jesus Plug and their iconic collabo anthem ‘The Saga’ which released back in 2015. This was the very same single that formed a solid foundation for AKA and ANATII collaborative work, even after their short breakup which nearly got too sour.
The album is a solid release which is the first project from both AKA and ANATII. The sound is pure hip hop, heavy rap on the lyrics with soulful elements. The message is broader and by putting only 10-tracks this shows you how both rappers wanted to place a tight content with meaning and substance.
Rating: 9/10
Genre: Hip-hop/Rap
Release date: 28 July 2017
Label: Beam Group & Yal Entertainment, under exclusive license to Universal Music
Number of Tracks: 10
If you haven’t checked it out, you can stream the entire album below:
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