Following the release of Meditations 4 earlier this year, Long Island’s DJ Concept returns with the instrumental version Ghetto Concepts, his 2022 collaborative album with rapper, Ghetto.
After a brief 13 second intro track, we hops right in to the titular track. With big bombastic horns and funky drums, you really don’t miss the vocals. In fact, if you have not heard the version with Ghetto on it, it is almost hard to imagine where vocals would fit in over the busy beat.
You do not have that same problem with every track. “Drop That Shit” features a repetitive harpsichord arpeggios over a boom bap beat. You could take the first 30 seconds of the track and repeat it for three minutes if not for awkwardly placed moments of silence. The silence is so jolting that you want to seek out the vocal version to see what prompts them. Similarly “My Reality” features music box arpeggios over a boom bap beat. This time there aren’t even the weird silences to break up the monotony.
A rolling hard-hitting drum beat helps save “Round Table” from a similar fate even though it features a repeating synth arpeggio. Closing track “Antiproiettile” builds on an emotive piano motif that starts on “Post on the Gram” but its interesting percussion gives it the feel of 90s Wu-Tang Clan.
Listening to the instrumental version of Ghetto Concepts, you realize that the whole album is similar to 90s Wu-Tang in the sense that it must be very lyric forward. There are no real choruses so even though the beats are well made but feel incomplete without vocals. If you are a vocalist, these blank canvases might be inspirational to you but the Ghetto Concepts instrumentals are not for the layman.
The eight track instrumental offering is available now through all major digital retailers and streaming platforms via Crisis Center Collective.
Rating: 4.5/10
