It was only in March that we got the latest solo release from producer Calvin Valentine, Plush Seats. Well, here we are in April, and we’re revisiting the album, this time with Portland emcee ePP, giving us Chrome Seats.

Valentine and ePP go back a ways, first meeting in 2006, then joining up with emcee Tope to form the group TxE. After a few years, Valentine went on to produce ePP’s first solo album, Chrome Plated Chronicles, in 2013. This is all to say that these two artists have a history together, and that’s why Valentine tapped ePP to revisit his solo album and make this companion release. Even if you haven’t spent any time with their previous material together, one listen to Chrome Seats, and you might guess that these two had worked together, since their chemistry is good. The beats are smooth, with a laid-back boom bap style to them, and ePP just hops on with a flow just as smooth, which he peppers with a combination of good storytelling and sarcastic sense of humor. The chemistry and style is such that the two artists together sound a bit like a West Coast Tanya Morgan. It’s just a tape that you can throw on and it immediately feels familiar, like you’ve had this in rotation for years. These two just click together. They take ten tracks from Plush Seats, flesh them out, add some fun rhymes, get a couple of guest spots from Fat Tony, Illmac, and Bobby Bucher, and then call it a day.

A release like Chrome Seats isn’t rocket science – you start with a beat tape like Plush Seats that already sounds good, and then you add an old friend who’s a talented emcee that you have great chemistry with, and then sprinkle it with some guest spots and just have fun with it. This isn’t anything too complicated. It’s just good hip hop from some friends who go together like peanut butter and jelly.