Cool Calm Pete is a 46 year old MC/producer born in Seoul, South Korea & raised in Queens, New York getting his start by forming the group Babbletron with both Jaymanila & DJ Pre respectively. Although the trio would eventually disband after their sophomore effort Mechanical Royalty despite the acclaim it received compared to Ramble at a Discount, his solo debut Lost had celebrated it’s 2 decade anniversary only a couple weeks ago & has making a primarily self-produced comeback following Leonard Z getting scrapped.
After the instrumental “Hertz” intro, the lead singles “These Daze” works in a drumless piano loop to ask if anyone remembers the times when life was carefree & becoming increasingly careful with time passing whereas “Now!?” takes a cloudier boom bap approach talking about people wanting to break you down. “Mountains” keeps it dusty to discuss being anything you want & after the “Atlantis” instrumental interlude, “Prologue” samples a violin to talk about trying to survive for kicks having nothing left other than a shoe deal.
“Online” gives off a funkier vibe to it with a spoken word delivery during the 1st half of it until letting the beat ride out on the other just before the psychedelic “Everyday” explaining that running away isn’t an option as a far as he’s concerned. “Ruff Mix” goes for a cloudier direction instrumentally so he can talk about getting rich leading into the funkier “Economics” points out society is either over the top or over the hill.
The kicks & snares come back in the fold on “Seconds” boasting that he could be counting the bread for days while the drumless “Ghost Time” talks about the way everything seems to him. After the compositional “Short Stop” intermission, “GPS” gives off a lo-fi feeling to address someone who’s been in his dreams while “1000 mph” dustily talks about others not knowing shit regarding him. “Hats & Glasses” lastly sends off the LP by having Pete salute his people rockin’ it.
Almost 2 weeks succeeding the 20 year anniversary of Lost, the founding Babbletron member makes his official return by focusing less on the humor that his solo debut had in favor of emphasizing a more personal side to himself. Furthermore, he holds off on having any guests join him to let his production on all except the last 2 tracks occasionally shine taking a backseat from the mic using crazy sampling chops.
Score: 8/10