Every garden has a snake. Every Snake has a home. New Jersey is Hispanic emcee L The Don’s home, as the self-proclaimed Snake Of The Garden State.

“I’ll do you dirty, better yet I’ll do you Jersey“, L The Don spits on “Do You Jersey“. Production on the aforementioned track hearken back to solo Juelz Santana projects; bars match more with Odd Future while the tone is more Ras Kass. An interesting mix.

Not quite sure why L The Don embraces immoral actions so much, but it makes for an interesting perspective to rap from. On “I’m a Snake“, he literally says “I’m a Snake, ayo I’m a snake/They say he phony, yeah, they say he fake“. Actually, that’s just what people are saying. Maybe he’s detesting. Either way, “Give them b*tches inches and these b*tches take a mile/You ain’t playing with me babygirl/You want a pushover, go date a cow” is a clever stanza in any context.

“Ricochet” is possibly the weakest song here, in almost every way: flow, lyrics & beat being the main 3. Should have been left on the cutting room floor. “Veneno En La Vena” suffers from a badly mixed backdrop, but is easily the meatiest track of the first. He touches on everything from the struggles of being an entrepreneur, how he wants to die and awkward social positions, amongst other things.

Track 5 is sort of a storytelling cut, but from a mental aspect. It’s a tale of L The Don, himself, choosing between the Devil & God. They’re personified as two beautiful women: one in red that has all of the worldy possessions & swag pit against one in white that has a pure essence and well-intentions. In the end, L The Don belts, “Guess which one I chose?/Don’t judge me dog, just tell the devil go dance slow“. That’s as inconclusively conclusive as it gets.

On the last joint, “How Much Damage Can A Candle Bring“, he goes out on the wave of that question. That’s it. The smoothest track ends the 6-song ride, possibly leaving you to want a full LP; that’s the point, right?

G-HOLY.COM, 2022.