Shaun Judah - Prima Vox Audiat
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on June 29, 2018Shaun Judah might be seen as something of an elder statesman to the Birmingham hip hop scene, but that doesn’t mean that he’s just sitting off to side offering wisdom to younger artists. No, he’s hopping on stages and dropping projects that shows that while he might have been doing this longer than others, he’s nowhere near done yet. Case in point, he has just dropped his latest album, Prima Vox Audiat.
For this album, which translates to “First Voice Heard,” Judah enlisted the help of producers Mufasaa Soulo Nova, MackOne, Inkline, 16 Bloxx, T-Swift, I Mean War, Rynea Soul, Simon Magus, Soul Rebel, K.T., Pratt City Amp, Tyler Ambrosius, Eugenius Neutron, Pratt City Amp, and Suaze One. That might sound like a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and it is, but you would never know it based on how coherent the album sounds from start to finish, with plenty of midtempo, gritty, Southern soul-sampling beats to go around. There are just a ton of great grooves for Shaun Judah to hop on, sit in the pocket, and just spit rhymes for days. As an emcee, Judah is part preacher, part teacher, and part person just trying their best to get by. He’s got plenty of knowledge to drop on you about history, religion, and race, as he picks apart the systems in place that keep people from achieving their full potential. He’s also got plenty of moments where he looks in the mirror and opens up about his own faults and moments where he’s come up short. He’s also got wordplay for days, making this one of the most lyrically dense albums of the summer. Finally, for all the serious moments throughout the album, Judah still makes sure make room to have and rock the crowd as well. This is all to say that this is exactly the type of well-rounded, thoughtful album you’d want from a veteran emcee.
Shaun Judah has been a vital part of the Birmingham hip hop scene for a while now, but he’s not anywhere close to slowing down. Prima Vox Audiat sounds like an emcee who is still hungry as ever, and he’s here to show everyone else how it’s done.
Title: | Shaun Judah - Prima Vox Audiat |
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Label: | S/R |
Year: | 2018 |
Rating: | 8/10 |