One of the great things about hip-hop is how easy it is to create collaboration projects and supergroups, and one of the latest to come out of Toronto is the Autopilots, a collab project between ECMA Award-winning Halifax rapper Spesh K and singer/rapper S-cape Artist from Kingston, ON multi-genre group Black Talon. Both rappers do a good job with their lyrics and delivery, but what sets them apart is S-cape's singing, which they rightly use on the hooks of six of the seven songs on their debut EP. It tends to work best on the tracks that are more hype which, by turn, are also the best tracks on the album thanks to the epic production that tends towards heavy synth and brings out the best in the singing.
They wisely sequenced those songs at the beginning of the album. Opening song "Don't Stop" is your typical braggadocio track that works well as an introduction to the two rappers before they get into some themed tracks. "Smoking Trees" is an obvious weed anthem that ups the energy prior to album highlight "She Don't Know My Name," on which each MC attempts to mack on girls who are rather ambivalent to their advances over a crunchy Penny Raider beat. From there, the album mellows out with love ballad "Hold Me Back," the confessional "Letting Myself Down" and the uplifting "I Can't Fly" before closing with a final upbeat braggadocio track, "Something Real," featuring Dan Doesn't Sleep. The Autopilots' self-titled debut provides a good introduction to the duo, and the singing and epic production on the front end of the album make it a worthwhile listen.
(Independent)They wisely sequenced those songs at the beginning of the album. Opening song "Don't Stop" is your typical braggadocio track that works well as an introduction to the two rappers before they get into some themed tracks. "Smoking Trees" is an obvious weed anthem that ups the energy prior to album highlight "She Don't Know My Name," on which each MC attempts to mack on girls who are rather ambivalent to their advances over a crunchy Penny Raider beat. From there, the album mellows out with love ballad "Hold Me Back," the confessional "Letting Myself Down" and the uplifting "I Can't Fly" before closing with a final upbeat braggadocio track, "Something Real," featuring Dan Doesn't Sleep. The Autopilots' self-titled debut provides a good introduction to the duo, and the singing and epic production on the front end of the album make it a worthwhile listen.