(2010) – from Wale, to Curren$y, and Pusha T – which makes the album beyond interesting. Despite the fact that it’s difficult to find some of the lyrics of the songs on-line, Tabi’s main language used in this album is strictly English and it is relatively easy to comprehend what he’s trying to communicate.
The album starts with the song “Make A Killin”, which features one and only Pusha T. This song is straight forward trying to talk about money and fame, where Tabi clarifies that in order to “make a livin”, one must be able to compete with others and “make a killin”; “to kill” is the main point, to “kill” obstacles positively. In terms of poverty, we can tell that Tabi was able to overcome financial struggles from the success that he gained throughout his choice of career.
“Get Me” definitely caught my attention due its upbeat rhythm. It’s once again beefing with other rappers, where Tabi talks about being “back to the grind” and hustling in order to make a living. This song explains a lot about Tabi Bonney’s faith in his career, where he includes: “welcome to the life… this is what we do… we don’t go to work, we just rip mics…” because he sees it as an extended part of his life.
The use of keyboard synth in the song “Radio” almost as catchy as the last song, where Tabi talks about his confidence where he mentions that he’s “got plenty girls but it ain’t enough so [he] ask Q Tip what’s up with Bonita”. This doesn’t only show his confidence with the “ladies”, but once again, just like the first few songs, he boasts about what hes capable of in his profession as a rapper. Especially in the songs “The Slacker’s Farewell” and “Nuthin But a Hero,” where Tabi repetitively shares that it’s “getting better” – he’s on the way to even more fame.
“Killer People” is ought to be my favorite song out of the whole album. However, this song doesn’t have that much of a variance with “Make A Killin,” which basically discusses the issues of poverty and being capable of overcoming its consequences with Tabi’s “hopes and dreams”. Also, Wale’s part is, of course, amazing.
In the tracks “Blinding” and “Galaxy,” the rhythm turned into an electropop-to-techno mood, where Tabi speaks of that “chasing dreams” and that one “special girl”. Looking far beyond the lyrics, we can see that Tabi Bonney’s preference for music or rhythm doesn’t have a choice – he can rap and advocate hip-hop words on an electro beat.
The last few tracks that include Kokayi brings that drum-beat and almost-reggae-sounding rhythm, we can clearly see that Tabi is attempting to represent where he came from. Even though it took him nine to ten tracks to show his cultural background, being a DC-based rapper, he was still able to represent.
In terms of who’s the direct audience of this album, we can simply say that it’s for those who need a little motivation. Those who need to be uplifted to achieve success. The entire album entirely talks about gaining the ability to reach goals and dreams. This album is almost (a little bit) child-friendly, because of the fact that Tabi doesn’t really include any foul language, and to me, this really stands out because he doesn’t rely on cursing other artists in order to prove himself.
Tabi wasn’t really able to cooperate lyrics about his hometown until the last few songs, and I believe it’s due to the fact that he’s becoming more and more influenced by other DC-based artists.