Boaz: The Audio Biography

First Wiz Khalifa had me paying attention to the Pittsburgh sound, now this kid Boaz is another voice out of the PA that got the kid’s head bopping one time for the hardcore. Though Boaz’s been around for a hot minute I never really gave son a chance. But his latest project The Audio Biography made it into my stereo and got extreme burn.

Dude was packing that thug motivational ish on this joint. Him and Sheek Louch (still one of the hardest rappers out) spit tough as nails rhymes over a crazy bass line and some ill violin notes talking about, “You gotta lace your timbs up before you lace your rims up” on “Larimer To Yonkers.” Speaking of violin notes, where’s Miri Ben Ari? She was a cutie. She had a bunch of nuccas in the subway playing the violin hoping Kanye would discover them too. But that’s neither here nor there. With “The Dopeman” homie gets his street pharmacist on and speaks on the 9 to 5 he had before he got his deal.

On the flip side, the Steel City representative drops a jewel about the game on “Promise Land” by stating, “I’m still religious/and instead of tearing down a block I should be building bridges/cause the young homies is lost/ask lil man why he on the block and he never told me a cause/guess it’s only because old heads was stuck’n/role models was dealers, the coke heads was coming/you don’t realize the game gave you nothing/killahs come and put one in your forehead for nothing!”

I can’t front on that blues guitar sample on the SoulStarZmuseeQ produced “My Only Love” where B personifies his relationship with money was just bananas. And real talk, I’m contemplating on throwing on his smooth as Denzel joint, “I Got What You Want” the next time I got a shorty laying up in my crib. That joint is bound to get somebody laid somewhere in the world. You just gotta know how to play this song to your advantage.

In a lot of ways I hear Boaz and I hear a new voice for the hustlers. His voice and style sound raw and gutter, but his music is that of a veteran. He’s grasped the concept of a dope sounding hook to go along with quality verses in-between. And his producer SoulStar got some heat on his hands on St. John Allerydyce (any X-Men fan knows what I mean). This duo can be the most dangerous hip-hop tandem since Gang Starr. I swear, it’s dudes like Stat Quo, Bishop Lamont and Termanology that keep me listening to hip-hop. Now you can add Boaz to that very short list.-The Infamous O

Hottest Joint: Too hard to just name one

Weakest Joint: “Hit Em”