jGerson
Fresh Daily’s debut album, The Gorgeous Killer: In Crimes Of Passion introduces listeners to self-proclaimed “New Jack of Brooklyn boom bap,” and from the start, it’s obvious Fresh wants to take listeners back to the days of hard rhymes and drum brakes. The album opens with the Illmind produced “Wildlife” that benefits from a ridiculous sample. As for Fresh, his flow seems average, but it’s apparent that he has a tremendous amount of confidence and he backs it with a huge stage presence which makes his shortcoming less noticeable.
Fresh follows up with another banger over Oh No on “Break a Leg” which uses a grimy sample that definitely embodies ’90s boom bap. Tanya Morgan joins in for the next track, but both Donwill and Illyas rip it slightly more than Fresh. Either way this is proof that Fresh can make consistently dope tracks and knows what people bring out the best in him
The album has other high points; the gamer themed “Video Gamin’” uses a Biggie scratch in the hook (“Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis…”). I don’t even play video game anymore, but Fresh ripped this topic by narrating his affection of video games from child to adult. I also appreciated it because of the old school Mortal Kombat reference (“TOASTY”). “Gutterman” also shows that staying on one subject brings out the best in Fresh. Fresh is nice when he stays on topic and this tale of poverty is evidence (“Money don’t make the man/ But a man that make money, got the world in his hands”).
Despite having some great songs on this album, Gorgeous Killer also has some forgettable ones. Both guest appearance tracks, “Bullet Tooth Tony” (ft Cool Calm Pete) and “Starter Pistol” (ft Homeboy Sandman) aren’t really worth another listen. “Two in the Shirt” (TITS),an ode to breasts has a good chorus, a well produced beat, and is probably the closest track to a radio single on the album suffers from Fresh’s average lyricism; his opening verse is kind of corny (“boobs ,hooters, breasts or say chesticles”). He doesn’t really say anything that’s never been said, which to his credit isn’t his fault, but he needs to establish himself as a great lyricist on his debut album. When Fresh stays on a subject it turns out well, but he’s pretty average when just trying to be himself. Overall the songs are good, and a lot of that has to do with Fresh Daily’s delivery and presence on the mic, but a tremendous amount of it should be credited to the production. Fresh is definitely a well rounded mc and Gorgeous Killer is a solid offering, but after listening to it more than once, it leaves something to be desired.
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