This is the 5th studio LP & Rhymesayers Entertainment debut from Queens, New York emcee/producer Elucid. For nearly 2 decades, he’s been making a name for himself whether it be his 10 mixtapes & 2 EPs that he’s released by himself or becoming 1/2 of the abstract duo Armand Hammer. His full-length solo debut Save Yourself came during the spring of 2016, which was followed by I Told Bessie as well as the Fat Possum Records-backed Revelator & Interference Pattern. Given that 2 of 2025’s most celebrated albums Golliwog & Mercy both came out under Rhymesayers, it was only a matter of time for I Guess U Had to Be There to drop & my anticipation was raised after learning Sebb Bash was fully producing it.
“1st Light” began the rollout with this drumlessly abstract lead single talking about being on farmer time whereas “Cantana” works in some exuberant pianos & a soul sample wanting to be left the fuck alone in addition to being on his 8th life. “Hands n Feet” featuring Estee Nack finds the 2 leaning towards a hardcore boom bap vibe dropping bars that they assume will go over people’s heads more than Israeli drones, but then “Make Me Wise” strips the drums again describing the government pairin’ propaganda with a pie in the face when that & the drone line on the previous track aren’t entirely wrong.
My favorite track here would easily be “Coonspeak” from the abstractly conscious lyricism to the experimentally wicked & drumless loop just before “Equiano” reaches the halfway point bringing the drums back in whilst turning up the psychedelia telling it straight how it is. Armand Hammer reunites for the 3rd & final single “The Lorax” returning to the boom bap & including a reference to the infamous Malice at the Palace brawl which occurred when I was about to turn 8 while “Fainting Goats” featuring Breeze Brewin’ hop over this drumless chipmunk soul beat talking about their reaffirmations of nobody having harder motion than them.
“I Say Self” rounds out 3rd with a sinisterly dark approach instrumentally talking about his refusal to put swine above himself while “Visitation Place” shifts towards a psychedelic direction with the beat tearing apart the type of people who should be doing more when they don’t & seeing it in their eyes that nothing’s adding up when he can’t either. “Alive Herbals” turns up the funk looking to the paint the block blue with money inside his shoes & “Parental Advisory” ends the album on some drumless psychedelic rock shit wondering if his firearm awoke anyone from their sleep.
Receiving a huge co-sign from one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist calling him “his favorite producer today”, Sebb Bash validates that by linking up with Elucid to surpass Revelator to become the greatest entry in his entire solo catalog & continues to ring in this new era for Backwoodz Studioz since they’ve signed this distribution deal with Rhymesayers Entertainment last spring. His abstractly conscious & hardcore lyrical style has been progressively improving & Sebb cooks up some of his greatest production built around drumless, boom bap, psychedelia & chipmunk soul.
Score: 9/10