Born in Austin, Texas, Golden Baby Pro, AKA G.B.P. is an aspiring Hip-Hop artist who recently released his 18 track “The Golden Rule, Vol. 2 – The Midas Touch” album. Last time I heard G.B.P. he was sharing the spotlight with Ptah Heru on the “Righteous Kingz” project. Lyrically and technically, he has a renewed focus, telling his stories with more detail and meaning than ever. The songs on the album come to life with such ease. His rapping is intricately patterned, and the sheer skillfulness combined with his steady-paced flow is impressive to say the least.
Anyone familiar with Golden Baby Pro’s work, will know that he has always been dangerously motivated, at least that much is evident in his songs. But this new motivation that I sense on “The Golden Rule, Vol. 2 – The Midas Touch” is something different, it is a motivation that is much stronger because it is much more focused and positive. In the last year, Golden Baby Pro showed himself to be ahead of the curb. While other rappers generally take all kinds of turns in their craft, he seems to have dedicated his days to improving his music.
Golden Baby Pro Game ignores traditional marketing advice and makes an album that seems to belong to a less materialistic era of hip hop. He unconsciously pays tribute to a number of old school artists, in both his perceived persona as well as his musical craft. He is also outstanding at selecting quality beats, and it’s amazing how he found 18 diamonds in a heap of modern-day cow dung that passes for beats.
Golden Baby Pro has followed a rough formula on this album. Again, whether this is a conscious choice or not, I can’t be sure, but his most accessible songs start off the album, his more-sentimental tracks come in the middle, and his deepest tracks come in the end. And from the very first track “Back Again” it becomes clear that this album is very likely going to be better than anything Golden Baby Pro has created. The back-to-back tracks “The Grind”, “Beyond Compare” and “Raw Business” are so finely-polished and well-timed that it just comes across as sheer perfection.
By the end of “Kites” even Golden Baby Pro’s biggest critics will be left speechless, you can imagine them quietly heading for the exit after listening to his sharp wordplay and assured flow over a string dominated soundscape. Luckily for them this track only lasts just over a minute. Except they don’t see “Back Against The Wall” coming until it’s too late. Here again, Golden Baby Pro forges some wicked wordplay against an off-kilter beat, that’s hard to keep time to if you’re a less technical rapper.
From thereon out you start to realize that there is more to Golden Baby Pro’s music than just the music; he believes the lyrics he raps. His personality and his music can’t be separated, and you can’t understand either fully without the knowledge of both. And there is plenty more to know and appreciated on this album such as standout tracks like “I Belong” or “Razzle Dazzle” and “Here We Go Again”. Golden Baby Pro absolutely annihilates the beats on this album with his best technical rapping to date and his attention to flow is incomparable to his earlier work. This is his best album to date. Period.
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