Yamin Semali is an emcee and producer from Atlanta, who first gained notoriety with the group Clan Destined before striking out as a solo act with such releases as Yamin and Yen Dollar Music, Vol. 1 & 2. This past February, Semali released a 7th Anniversary version of Yamin, remastered and updated with a few new songs. Now he’s back with an all new full-length album, Phantom Feeling.

For Phantom Feeling, Semali reached out to Virginia producer Dublohskytzo, who helps bring an interesting sound to the proceedings. Through the course of the album, the beats find a balance between influences such as Organized Noize, Dr. Dre, and The Soulquarians. What this means in a practical sense is that we get a very well-rounded version of Yamin Semali on this album. There are times when the album is really smooth and intimate, which encourages Semali to get introspective and deliver some of his most personal rhymes, but other times when the music is brash, fun, and funky, encouraging Semali to talk his shit and maybe get more outwardly political with his rhymes. The point is that this is a veteran artist working with a producer who he had great chemistry with, and the results are that we got a really complete and well-balanced effort. Semali can come through with the word play, he can connect the dots with current issues such as our overreliance on technology, and he can also break things down and get personal about his relationship with his family and how he was raised. This is a hip hop album that’s about making sense of your past, taking stock of the current situation, and trying to build the best tomorrow.

Phantom Feeling is exactly the type of album we’ve come to expect out of Yamin Semali, albeit with a few subtle surprises that come from working with Dublohskytzo, who pushes him just a little in all the right directions.