Curren$y – ‘Here’ EP Review – What Iz Hip Hop

For the better part of the last three years, Curren$y has radically transformed himself from a Young Money on the sidelines to a self-made Jet Life CEO. And to top it off, he has become a prolific workhorse, releasing numerous projects including three quality albums and mixtapes each within the last year alone, especially the hardcore Alchemist collaboration “Covert Coup.”

Curren$y’s first of many morsels for 2012, “Here,” proves that he has not strained himself as much as one might expect. The EP is simply a five-track maintained lane concerning the usual weed-clouded and lazy appreciation of the good life, but his experience still provides a great drive.

The tunes are as equally decent. Curren$y’s ability to spit the same, topically consistent narratives with a lyrical pep and his nasally, ‘Nawlins drawl has freakish appeal, and can glide over any beat as long as the bpm is within a hazy range. This proves true on “#CruiseLife,” where he borrows the Houston-screwed “Drive Slow” from Kanye West. Spitta puts a spin on the scenery from the music video, leaving a stinky, green trail down a major boulevard: “With my cousin G5, we high’d up, cloudy/bitches get stoned just from standin’ around us/music turned up but the smoke way louder.”

Curren$y also keeps things rolling on the other tracks. The opener, “Pay Attention,” has a drowsy aura to it, as a organ synth sloshes around with infrequent beeps while he “counts a million in the vault.” The most offensive track has to be “Livin,” that features a funky 90s-era beat suitable for leaning back or ghost riding the whip, and has the Jet Life captain flaunting as hard as possible: “showroom Testa Rossa/leather in here softer than yo’ sofa/who the livest crew thatchu know of/smellin’ like a pine when we show up.”

Curren$y coasts on each track with ease, and handles the first four by himself while alluding to a posse that seems to be ever-present. He does allow his labelmates trade bars in the last song, “Conference Call,” and they hold up. It’s pretty obvious that they have a ways to go in terms of honing a unique persosnality and even a style of flow, but cloaked underneath the visage of Curren$y’s rhymes, its just another addition to the track.

The first listen through “Here” was very comfortable and inviting, like a good pair of house shoes. But, even when considering the fact that this EP holds no financial obligation to listeners, it still begs the question that Curren$y might be afraid to discuss extra-curricular topics on his projects. This is a worthy drop from him, but each track does become redundant after a few spins due to their topical sameness.

Besides that fact, the latest addition to the Jet Life canon is what the affluent stoner or relaxed listener ordered: a collection of smooth beats for the Louisiana native to bless with his oral talents. While by no means new, they do not come off as stale or microwaved, but rather as good dishes with slightly tweaked recipes. Perhaps, in a few months, he will serve up another.