Cha$e Benjamin – “The Fall Out” manages to outline the full scope of its narrative

Cha$e Benjamin is an artist from Flint, Michigan. He dropped his mixtape “The Fall Out”, after a devastating break up. The project contains 14 tracks and a bucket load of producers. As peer-level artists are losing their heads to paranoia and politics, Cha$e keeps it real by delivering rhymes firmly rooted in the grim reality of his everyday life. The never-hurried emcee flows smoothly over some unsavory topics revolving around afflicted hearts and more. There are a few grunts of braggadocio, but mostly they’re rhymes of reality, as personal, angry, and occasionally afflicting, as it is. While other hip-hoppers produce synapse-popping pieces of futuristic beat architecture, Cha$e Benjamin plays an autobiographical angle affectingly well.

“The Fall Out”, as a whole, drifts by at an even pace – it is a profound record in sound and concept. The solid, minimalist, spacey soundscapes, are occasionally punctuated by percolating bass lines and overt hip-hop rhythmic underpinnings.

There is often piano driven coolness being diffused, and when it comes to its lyrics, a mix of the smartly nihilistic, pragmatically cheerful and a glad-to-be-unhappy lyrical signature that’s irresistible in its sourness purveys the air.

The mixtape kicks off with the jangly guitar motifs on “Picture This” (prod. Monir), and switches to throbbing bass-drum kicks on “Your Loss (prod. AWCCBEATS)”. It’s in Cha$e Benjamin’s melodious tone, and stark mantra flow that these tracks are most effective, as he deals out pieces of simple, stately, poetic autobiography.

This is evident on the croon of “Complexion” (prod. LavishJax), his dry delivery on “Lakeside” (prod. Oasis) as well as the adlibs on “Make Up” (prod.TheKidFrankie).

The mixtape sometimes submerges the listener into deep crevices of destruction for the purpose of understanding the self and the pitfalls that doom us all in relationships. “Heart Broke” ft ANT DOE (prod.YoungTaylor) and “Monday Night (Interlude)” (prod.PrettyJimmy) give us a subtle taste of these troublesome deviations.

The bounce and rhymes on “Summer Love” ft. ANT DOE (prod. Sinato) is a definite attempt to lift the spirits. The mixtape is like an actual wave, as its moods crash and fall, then rise again, all while we frantically hold on. “Ric Flair” (prod. Mayor) maintains the groove momentum of the previous track, as does the head-nodding bump of “Come Thru ft. ANT DOE” (prod. CRXSH).

Amid the maelstrom, Cha$e Benjamin spews line after line of risks and resolutions on the busy backdrop of “Tuesday Morning”. The horns and electric piano on “ROSES” ft. ANT DOE is the step off the well-treaded lane, its heavenly sound threatening to lift you from your chair unless you hold something down.

Through it all, “The Fall Out” is a journey that explores what comes before during and after the lowest point reached. Here, Cha$e Benjamin is in great form, chronicling his mindset in a way that shows his acknowledgement of the path ahead.

In the process, he’s given us an ear-catching means to unfold his narrative. Cha$e Benjamin has separated himself from the crowd by offering a nuanced and well thought-out approach to an otherwise familiar set of topics. Throughout the project, the rapper manages to outline the full scope of his narrative, while maintaining an underlying sense of bravado and flare.