Gold Rush Kings: Liquid Gold

gold rush kings, liquid goldFeel-good, commercialized party music moved through the gates of the hip hop community creating a sort of subgenre and finding its way into the hands of hungry listeners. It’s not a knock on the style of music because a lot of the early beginnings of hip hop were inspired by feel-good funk, R&B and rock, but it gets to a point where the creative are shunned by the genre. In this instance, the Gold Rush Kings fare poorly with the release of their feel-good, commercialized hip hop, party music album, Liquid Gold.

The album is a let-down. At first, the listener discovers promising flows and energizing vibes, but upon further listening, those engaging aspects are stifled by multitudinous shortcomings. Among the laundry list of faults this album possesses, there are three that stand out.

First, the recording quality of the album is sub par. It’s one thing to be a “dope” rapper, but if the quality of music lacks, the talent will surely be overlooked. Poor mixing and mastering creates an echo sound resonant in the background of the vocals. Cheap equipment may be to blame, but the buzzy sound emitted throughout the duration of the songs spells out a poor recording environment as well. If the rappers can afford the chains and Henny they claim, then surely they should have been able to afford better quality recordings.

Secondly, the album’s lyrical quality is also deficient. All Gold Rush Kings raps about is money, sex and other typical hip hop fare. Rehashed subject matters coupled with little variation in musical themes lend this album to tediously drag out. What the duo fails to do is engage the listener in a way that’s embellished, as well as exciting. A tide has turned in the hip hop community where fans prefer music to which they can relate over music to which they can mindlessly dance. All is fair in fun; however, just as there is a time and place for everything, an entire album of the above-mentioned themes is an over-saturation of over-indulgent “fun” music.

Lastly, the promising flow alluded to earlier quickly collapses after the first track. Sure the “Broken Language Remix” is a charismatic creation and “Git Mine” is listenable, simply because the effort is there, but two or three songs cannot save the inadequacy of poor lyricism. As a rapper, lyrics take priority over everything. Rather than concocting club-friendly subject matters, King-O and JKing should focus more on formulating masterful bars, rhyme schemes and insightful messages. At this time, it is hard to identify a truly outstanding model of high-end lyrical abilities on this album (besides the first track), but it is with high hopes that GRK may return with more formidable rhymes on their next effort.

Gold Rush Kings fall short of anything they hoped to make themselves out to be. Money-hungry rappers who flaunt what they don’t have. Uninteresting artists talk about stuff millions of others have rapped about. Offensive words about Jesus Christ in very poor taste, so much so that puts into question the thought process of the entire verse. All of these and more contribute to the lackluster effort of the Gold Rush Kings. Perhaps rapping about something more relevant to today’s times, as well as finding a new means to produce and execute their potential would substantially improve the musical output of this group. Regardless, it is a point to learn from one’s mistakes and only build to make sure that there’s nowhere else to go but up.
Rating: 2.3/10

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