London’s Fla$h GME is showing The Elevation

North London, UK‘s Fla$h GME dropped a full-length LP, The Elevation. Here’s how it’s sounding:

From the rip, you’ll notice Fla$h’s laid-back approach, as if he’s rapping from a comfortable pull-out chair in the living room. Also, he’s an easy candidate for the monotone hall-of-fame. Often times on The Elevation, his black & white vocals are contrasted by a colorful sonic backdrop, creating a full spectrum audio image.

For instance, much of “Mother’s Love” production lives in the brilliance range, as Fla$h’s voice cuts through; reminiscing on times his mother bailed him out, literally, amongst memories of Mum seared into his conscience.

Quite the opposite on the title track intro, where production is mundane and dreary as our hero let’s us into his mind a bit. It’s not a bad song, yet not the best representation of what you’ll hear throughout. The next track, “Therapeutic (Freestyle)” would have served as a better opener, as he runs through multi-syllable rhyme patterns over a drowned out soul sample.

Fla$h & Y.F GME show their London roots, as they get grime-y on “Certi“, saluting their “day ones”… crew love. Things get really Hip-Hop on “Tuff Love“. A clear front-runner for a single, Fla$h spits “Every lesson in life is supposed to be“, which sums up the feel of this track. The replay value of the aforementioned track is instantly noticeable.

The triumphant, “Great Minds” benefits from a strong hook provided by Villa Dom. A closing verse from Villa would’ve elevated this track. No pun. Reason being: Fla$h may just be too laid back for this track. Which leads us to the biggest drawback of The Elevation.

Fla$h GME is simply hit or miss. Not in rhyme or delivery but in sonic integration. He has a style that could benefit from a bit more instrumental curation. Like Curren$y and Rick Ross, track production can make Fla$h go from God to human in one track skip. So, like these two, he could profit from squeezing his sound into a more one-dimensional flavor.

Overall, Fla$h GME’s The Elevation is a solid listen. At times, he’ll remind you of Boldy James, other times a London Beanie Sigel. Beats, though not cohesive, standalone well. Rhymes are stellar throughout. Rhyme styles are in abundance. Content is plentiful. Features are all feature-worthy, to say the least. A solid listen from a solid guy, who stands on morals, as displayed on the very creative outro, “The Worlds Yours“. He raps to his children, “Never do nothin’ that you don’t wanna do/Especially if that thing makes you dishonorable“. 100.