Streams Of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able - Black Thought: Review
is a Philly rapper and long time member of seminal rap collective The Roots. Black Thought began his career as a solo artist in 2018 with a pair of EP's that served as volumes 1 and 2 of the Streams Of Thought series.
Review By Lavender:
I love The Roots and I enjoyed Vol. 1 in this series in particular so I was moderately excited going into Cane & Able. Even with some strange features and production credits that sort of lacked the star power of the EP's I had a feeling Black Thought was going to deliver his typically strong blend of intense performances with conscious introspective lyricism. That happens for the most part although there are tracks on the project that take incredibly strange detours.
Good Morning was the lead off single for this record and while it came out long before the album itself it feels just as fresh and compelling. If you were going to make an explosive, politically charged posse cut I think Pusha T and Killer Mike would be the first two names on my list of who to invite. While Pusha T in particular goes ridiculously hard the trio do their respective styles masterfully and the song pairs alongside the hostile and hard-hitting intro State Prisoner to get the record started off right. Magnificent is a much warmer and more jazz oriented cut but Black Thought still isn't holding anything back. While the rhymes here are intricate and well performed it certainly isn't some of the most impressive lyricism on the record. Despite that i still think the song is a solid deep cut on this short album.
We Could Be Good is a great song unpacking the intimate details of a relationship over a rich jazzy instrumental alongside a great feature on the hook. The whole thing gives off this energy of harmony and love but the deeper you dive into the lyrics the more you see the clear struggle underneath and the song is much more dynamic and interesting as a result. Thought vs. Everybody lives up to its name as the track is made up of just one long verse from Black Thought almost all of its 3 minutes. Thought never waivers with the intensity of his performance and continues to bring fresh interesting lyricism throughout for another big highlight. Fuel is the closing track and by far the best of the records three features from Portugal, The Man. The hook actually fits the slng really well and Black Thought's performance is just as great here. Paired with a killer beat I really enjoy the track.
Speaking of Portugal, The Man two of the weaker songs here center around performances from the band. Quiet Trip is the first and the mediocre hook absolutely doesn't fit with the rest of the song whatsoever. Black Thought brings some absolute ferocity to his verses at points but all that momentum just evaporates whenever the hook comes around. Nature Of The Beast is even more confusing as it's so uncomfortably similar to Kid Cudi that it's alarming. From the kind of bad singing to the spacey instrumental and even the vocal refrains with extended syllables are all just so overwhelmingly Cudi that I have to wonder if it was deliberate. If it was intentional I can't figure out why because neither Thought nor P,TM do the sound justice and I think it's my least favorite song here. Steak Um was the other track that didn't do much for me. I've never been a huge Schoolboy Q fan but he is far from the only problem on the song. Both Thought and Q deliver really reserved performances that underwhelm big time when you compare this track to anything else on the record.
Vol. 3 of the Streams Of Thought series graduated from EP to album but kept roughly the same amount of good tracks. While underwhelming features and weird ideas do appear on the project they are far from abundant. For the most part Thought is hopping on great instrumentals and doing exactly what he does best with conscious bars and confident impactful delivery. With pedigree like his I'll be looking forward to whatever he does next and while I don't think this is one of his best projects ever it is definitely one worth hearing for hip hop fans. 6.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
Really cool concept for a cover and I haven't seen a lot of others like this. I really like the abstract lines and the hidden image in the pieces. It's easily recognizable and carries your eye through the piece smoothly. The colors are fine but very muted, not in your face or eye catching. The only thing I would recommend is using the space in the top left for branding or text. 7.5/10
For more conscious hip hop check out my review Clipping's Visions Of Bodies Being Burned here
