Here we have the 11th solo LP from South London, England, United Kingdom emcee Fliptrix. The founder of High Focus Records as well as a member of The Four Owls, he made his debut in 2007 off Force Fed Imagery followed by Theory of Rhyme and later Third Eye of the Storm & The Road to the Interdimensional Piff Highway. Polyhymnia came out a couple years later as did Patterns of Escapism & Inexhale. Light Work was alright & Mantra #9 took a more mature approach, coming off the Leigh Brothers-produced Dragonfly to have Forest DLG a.k.a. Telemachus soundtrack his Elevation.
“Teacher” begins with them providing a ray of light during these troubling times whereas the 3rd single “Transform” takes the soulful boom bap route instrumentally providing more insight penmanship. “One Heart” continues from there brutally observing the modern condition leading into the 4th single! “Better Watch Them” jazzily leans towards conscious vibe lyrically.
As for “33 Vertebrae”, we have Flip embracing a hip house sound talking about the part of our body that helps us elevate just before “The Divine Feminine” makes a powerful statement condemning misogyny. “Energy! Energy! Energy!” featuring General Levy fuses hip hop with jungle for a captivating teaser that could be played at EDM festivals to come while the 2nd single “Floodlights” talks about rebellion.
“Who’s the Saviour?” calls for everyone listening to rise up while the 7th single “Freedom?” featuring Coops talks about the world spiraling downward in real time. “Do You Wanna See” featuring Da Flyy Hooligan dismisses those who don’t wanna see the forest like they say they’d like to while “Dangerous” by The Four Owls featuring Babylon Dead, Coops, Cracker Jon, Dabbla, Farma G, Harry Shotta, Jman, Kemastry, King Kashmere, Ramson Badbonez, Renelle 893, Sparkz, TrueMendous, Verbz & Vitamin G comes through with an outstanding High Focus posse cut.
Continuing the 2nd half, “Tears in the Eyes of Gaia” has a more emotional approach to it talking about the way perceives beauty while “Chilling” dedicating this one to all the people who’re typically calm out in public rather than wylin’ out or getting hyped. “Ups & Downs” talks about life being similar to a rollercoaster while the 8th & final single “Visionaries” featuring Frisco adamantly expresses their desire of making perfect use of their last breaths.
“Mighty” featuring Kamakaze joins forces for a grime track cautioning not to make any moves unless you’re strong enough to bare the tussle while “It Ain’t Easy But I’m Surfing” talks about staying focused & determined although it’s not a breeze to do by any means. “I Be on My Way” sends off the Elevation with Flip discussing that the pain he’s endured can be seen on his face & carving his own path for 16 years via the biggest underground UK hip hop label.
Desiring to make something completely different compared to Dragonfly, Elevation takes the maturity of it’s predecessor & Mantra 9 by delivering an album that joins the ranks of Fliptrix’ last couple except I love this one slightly more. Forest DLG’s production is more experimental than the Leigh Brothers’ was & Fliptrix’ lyricism aims to lift the world to higher state of consciousness & trigger conversations regarding the state of the world in the hope of enacting positive change during everything that’s happened in these past 14 going on 15 months. There are also a few guests that he’s never worked with before & did so in attempt to sought out new energies after collaborating with all the greats in his scene.
Score: 9/10