Magestik Legend

A former member of 9-2-5 Colony, with Elzhi and Nick Speed, and frequent One Be Lo collaborator, Magestik Legend has kept the Detroit underground buzzing with a succession of excellent tapes. The MC's de facto debut, The Great Escape follows his prolific mixtape work in quality, but is far more cohesive. Largely produced by Astronote, 14KT and Legend, Escape mainly features the D-town MC ripping through tough beats with a sharp pen. "Starting Pistol" showcases witty verses from Legend and Guilty Simpson over a blippy, knocking production. "All It Takes" features Legend, Buff1 and Haasan Mackey retelling their near-death experiences over seething organs. Escape soars when Legend plays the dozens over headknocking breaks on songs like "The Closer" and "On The Run." However, there are too many sappy, for-the-ladies jams and weak hooks to make this an unqualified recommendation. Nonetheless, any head searching for that headknocking raw would be advised to scoop Escape up. With a little trimming, Escape makes a mean EP.