Mr. Flip tells tales. Howbeit, those accounts are based on a materialistic premise. Newports, Chucks, and other capitalistic pursuits. By track number three,” Flip already brags “sold out shows gettin’ lots of dough.” The lyrics are nowhere near lofty. However, Mr. Flip’s fantasies are.
Next Level Shit breaks ground, not for weighty content but for collaborative muscle. The Jersey born Phil McKenzie does not make beats. Instead, The Angeleno spits rhymes to tempos. The genius is left to the music producer. In this space, the honour goes to songwriter/producer/deejay Osunlade. Flip and Osunlade had met years prior at a party, at McKenzie’s request for spiritual guidance. The Yoruba ordained priest of the deeply rooted West African faith, charts Next Level’s musical terrain. From the opener, accordions of Tejano to the bass and funk on the closer. “Next Level Shit” is a voyage of global epicurean.
The project had to be a patient undertaking. Three singles preceded the full release. “Drippn’” released in 2023, “Hit Different” and “Da Boogie,” way back in 2022. The actual release of NLS was easy to forget. After all, the marriage of hip hop and house music birthed a bastard child-hip house. Not since Chicago’s Fast Eddie, Tyree Cooper, D.C.’s Doug Lazy, New York’s Todd Terry and The Jungle Brothers and Jersey’s Queen Latifah jumped off in the late 1980s, not many dare spit bars over “ontz, ontz, ontz. Such a time as this, is American hip house ripe for a comeback on the global stage?
Mr. Flip drives in uncharted territory. What he labels, Yoruba branded soul starts with “Drippn,’” all bouncy and Spanish fun. As “Pull Up” is breezy, laid back with flute. Think California cool. Intros provide comic relief from the monotony. Anyone for the snoring at the start of the electric guitar fueled “Shower Song?” The standout “Do it Together” pulls from the Yoruba Records’ family. The spoken word soothsayer OVEOUS and label boss Osunlade crooning a catchy hook as Flip raps, “Fuck that ole’ division/Unity’s the mission. “Look Both Ways,” the Afefe Iku assisted single is a wobbly filtered loop of gibberish that goes nowhere real fast. Flip is hilarious on the ball-and-chain stomper, “All Da Smoke.” He raps “Mind up in smoke like Chong and Cheech/I get up in dat ass like thongs in cheeks”. The delivery is old-school rap tone. There is no mumbling here. Even when Flip claims to be high. On “Mothership Tip,” “I don’t start no shit but I’m the last to run” is recorded with a lo-fi drawl, courtesy a vocal bender, before the spotlight of bass and Fender explodes into feel good roller skating disco.
The release feels intentional. Great times. That leaves an impactful impression. You can’t help but smile at Flip’s attempt. Somehow, you want the music to continue beyond 10 songs that clocks at a total of 40 minutes. Tracks could have been fully realized. Deeper. Intros that escalate and outros extended. Then again, these days, attention spans last no longer than two minutes for music. As NLS plays like rap-by-numbers, the sonic narrative taps into a higher stream of consciousness.
wrds: aj dance
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Tags: #dancefloormagic #housemusicexcellence, AfefeIku, AllDaSmoke, ancestral house music, DaBoogie, dance music, deep house, DoItTogether, Drippin', hip house, Hit Different, house music, LookBothWays, MothershipTip, Mr.Flip, Newport, NextLevelShit, Osunlade, OVEOUS, Pullup, Yoruba Records