The dynamic duo of Fly Anakin and Koncept Jack$on from Mutant Academy drops another project with their album Chapel Drive which is their best collaborative effort to date. Armed with experience, an incredible affinity for their craft, and a team full of rappers and producers large enough to be mistaken a guerrilla cell, Anakin and Kon formed a well-structured piece of work. While it’s obvious that the two are at the center stage of Chapel Drive, the album is colored with the other members of their RVA based collective which makes it an even more thrilling ride. Big Kahuna OG and Henny L.O. both steal the spotlight in their own right. While not especially aggressive, their overall sound is a dominant one which is a good thing when it’s two to four rappers sharing a track together and everyone needs to be able to mesh together well while also having their own defined voices. It’s evident that Anakin, Kon, and the rest of the features have a powerful chemistry as they seem to come together flawlessly like a debuting Wu-Tang Clan.
Packed with heavily atmospheric production and stylish lyricism, it seems like each track was made to one up the next. Despite the bragging, there are many introspective bars laced into the album such as Koncept Jack$on on “vag manifesto” where he spits “My food for thought is how my mouth get fed. It’s the conglomerate. Never voice your love is what your vagina said” in a self-aware fashion. Lines like, “How you want it? With the red dot vision or something different? You the man? I don’t know your name, these bitches just pictures” from Fly Anakin, really rip into the tracks to give us that dominant sound I mentioned earlier. The beats range from a chill (“Memory Foam” featuring Henny L.O. and produced by Henchmen) to hard-hitting(“dime$” produced by Sycho Sid) while keeping a smooth transition.
My favorite tracks from Chapel Drive would have to be “madblunts,” “memory foam,” “kingpin,” “dime$,” and “when thugs cry” although I definitely enjoyed listening to the album through and through. The most vital parts of the album would have to be the chemistry, and not just between the rappers but with the producers as well. Everything seems to come together perfectly on the album with no bad choices of beats, timing, and use of lyricism although the Mutant Academy camp almost never has that problem anyways. Being a big portrait of the Academy’s soundscape, this is the perfect album to jump into as a starting point in their ever growing discography.
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