Young Chris is a 43 year old rapper from North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania notable for being a member of the State Property crew & 1/2 of the Young Gunz subunit. He has since dropped a total of 16 solo mixtapes as well as a couple extended plays & 2 collaborative projects within nearly 2 decades, with the Cardiak-produced The Revival being my personal favorite of the bunch. Coming off the drumless Made in Philly with MadeinTYO this spring, he’s mainly holding down his 3rd EP by himself since The Network 3.
“Still Fine Dining” kicks things off with this 105 second intro hopping over a luxurious boom bap beat talking about being the one who weathers the storm whereas “Sativa on the Rooftop” goes for a drumless vibe instrumentally reminding us that he’s made it & some bitch on the verge of getting her boots knocked. “Disappointed” featuring Freeway & Icewear Vezzo finds the trio talking about not letting anyone get ahead of them while “Making Drops” balls on all these bluffin’ cornballs who stay cappin’.
Peezy appears for “The City Up” produced by Swaggyono of Working on Dying so they can talking about shaking up their respective hometowns of Philly & Detroit rollin’ with the pros in the club just before “Was It Ever Luv?” soulfully asks if what he had with this woman was legitimate or fraudulent. “This Life Get Crazy” spends the remaining minutes of Catch a Vibe treading the acoustic trap waters talking about the highs & lows of existing.
Hearing that Fine Dining collaborative EP he put out with Dave East the summer prior had me hoping Young Chris would go solo again sooner or later regardless of me still putting it above Made in Philly & despite it’s own flaws, Catch a Vibe attests to the former Roc-A-Fella Records signee’s longevity whether it be the 3 guest verses or the interesting production choices & Chris’ distinctive style drawing comparisons to the now defunct Def Jam Recordings imprint’s founder JAY-Z.
Score: 7/10