Escape From New York - Beast Coast: Review

Beast Coast

is a New York hip hop super group made up of Issa Gold and AKTHESAVIOR better known as The Underachievers, Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick The Architect better known as Flatbush Zombies, as well as Joey Badass, Nyck Caution, Kirk Knight, CJ FLY and Powers Pleasant all of whom come from the New York hip hop collective Pro Era. After collaborating with each other for years the super group has finally collected to release this album and go on a tour this summer in support of it. 

Review By Lavender:

While I am a fan of the many artists involved in this grand collaboration I must admit that just a few years ago I would have been way more excited for this project. Joey Badass has always been sharp and even though it has been two years since his last album it was one of my favorite hip hop albums of 2017 and I am still excited for anything he does. Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight however both missed on their most recent solo albums and while I thought their collaboration Nyck @ Knight was decent it was far from a memorable moment for me the year it came out. Flatbush Zombies got off to an amazing start with their early mixtapes but the two studio albums they've released 3001: A Laced Odyssey and Vacation In Hell have been just decent and a little bit uninspired on a studio level. And finally I must admit to not knowing The Underachievers discography like the back of my hand, though I've enjoyed what I have heard nothing has floored me enough that I absolutely had to check the group out. Given how many inconsistencies the respective artists had my expectations for this album were measured and the result of it is a decent collection of tracks that has some highlights but doesn't add up to be greater than the sum of its parts. 

So the band released three singles leading up to the project and they forecast both its inconsistencies and the dichotomy between what the album does well and what it doesn't. The lead single is a banger, the likes of which the album does well numerous times one of the best of those being Left Hand. I enjoyed this lead single quite a bit and Meechy rides the rattling beat with a very sharp hook and pretty much everybody jumps in with their own brief verses, most of which are thematically sharp and sonically supportive of each other resulting in a banger that I quite enjoy. The highlights include Erick and Zombie which is a common occurrence on this album that I should address right now. The Flatbush Zombies absolutely own this record and they are the highlights of pretty much every good song here, despite the fact that I was expecting some great work from Joey, Kirk or AK more often than not my favorite moments come from one or more of the Zombies going off. 

The second single was Coast/Clear a decent trap crooner that didn't help drum up much excitement for me. The track has a decent hook from Kirk but it also seems like just about any contemporary trap crooner could have delivered it just as well. The track is laced with some short verses from numerous members and while decent overall it is nowhere near as sharp of memorable as Left Hand. The third and final single was Snow In The Stadium, a more measured track that has grown on me just a touch and is one of the better more lowkey tracks here. Erick's hook is bearable given that it only appears twice and while Joey is very sharp on the track I can't say the same for everyone else. Meechy gives a sing-songy performance that is probably my least favorite of his on the album and Kirk is essentially trap crooning. The clear Jamaican inspiration is refreshing and interesting on the project but what makes it worth hanging onto is Joey's verse in the beginning and Issa Gold with a great verse right at the end. 

From this point on there is a split in all of the remaining songs here. The bangers are usually pretty sharp beats from Powers Pleasant and contain one or two more great verses from various members as well as some very underwhelming hooks. But on the other half there is some very ugly, time consuming and painfully slow developing ballads.

It Ain't Easy, It Ain't Easy is a bit of a generic east coast hip hop beat with some excellent flows. Zombie and Erick are particularly good in the huge posse cut and while not everyone is perfect with a particularly cringeworthy verse from Nyck Caution, as a posse cut it works. Rubberband opens up with a killer verse from Joey with tight flows and great lyrics. Meechy follows this with a hard hitting and confrontational verse and while Zombie gives off a particularly ugly chorus he redeems himself with a great verse that is right next to another great verse from Erick to wrap up a solid tune. Distance is just barely an okay track that mixes a very ugly hook with some tight verses and a solid piano led beat. Issa Gold and Erick are the songs highlights and since it's on the shorter side it is just bearable enough to consider revisiting.

Bones is a true posse cut I could see going underrated as the beat is banging and Zombie Juice finally delivers a fantastic hook. Erick and AK are the tracks highlights but from a performance standpoint this may be the most consistent of all the songs here. Desperado is a bouncy and rattling beat that is one of the most original here and Joey steals the show right away with one of the best verses on the entire album. Both Kirk and Zombie join in and drop some good verses of their own but Joey stands above everybody and the song also has to overcome a dismal chorus from Meechy that goes on far too long. Finally the closing track Last Choir goes out on a high note as the group does what they do best and make a banger. I particularly like this song because it finally sees Kirk Knight reaching the potential we all know he has with an excellent verse. The song ends the album on a decent not but brings even more attention to how poor the other half of tracks here are.

Problemz is literally an emo trap ballad with the least energy of any of the songs here. Erick's flat and dry hook is awful and CJ does a mediocre Kid Cudi impression on an underwhelming bridge. Neither of The Underachievers can save the track and the final nail in the coffin is the rough half sung half rapped verse Zombie Juice delivers at the end. Far Away is essentially an R&B tune with some very conflicted lyrics. Half of the MCs are rapping about heartbreak lust while the other half including Meechy Darko's hilarious but misguided verse are diving into much more braggadocios and vulgar sexual territory. The song ultimately fails to do much of anything through a runtime that feel far longer than it actually is. Puke opens up with a surprise standout verse from Nyck Caution that reminds me of some Brockhamtpon tunes but I'm not impressed with much of the other personal and intimate verses here.

One More Round is yet another uninspired slower track where Meechy and Nyck and Erick and Joey all give slow developing verses that I just don't enjoy making it one of the most patience testing track in the entire tracklist.

Beast Coast is a project with potential but ultimately it isn't realized on Escape From New York. The group is a meeting of styles so similar that the thematic and sonic elements of this record feel like they're beaten to death over the 45 minutes of this album. And when they try to step out of their comfort zone rarely does anyone stand out. I really do think that they have potential as a super group but they desperately need to write more creative and interesting tunes and maybe recruit some guests features to handle the hooks because even the best songs here suffer from some terribly uncatchy choruses. There is a lot to like here but it can be a slog to get through it and to ultimately find what is worthwhile here and you are probably better suited diving into the back catalogs of the artists involved then waiting for them to do something legendary together. 5.5/10

Best Track: Left Hand

For more east coast hip hop check out my review of Your Old Droog's It Wasn't Even Close here.