Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee O.T. the Real making his TCF Music Group debut with his 9th studio LP. Getting his start in the underground back in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations as well as dropping 7 albums as well as a mixtape & his last 7 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut showed improvement as did the Nickel Plated produced Cost of Living & The Devil You Know. That said, 38 Spesh fully producing Possession with Intent had me feel like this could be a special entry in O.T.’s catalog & the singles hinting towards it.
“18 Ballgames” opens with some jazzy horns splitting a rat’s shit in half & dipped before the cops came whereas “Never Saw Me” hops over a boom bap instrumental with some pianos to talk about having people who depend on him. “Big Fish” featuring Grafh brings the brass instrumentation back in effect referencing my favorite show of all-time Breaking Bad leading into “For the Face” talking about friends becoming foes & grams turning into ounces.
Amir Ali joins O.T. for a shimmery “Philly Special” advising to make money because money won’t make you while “Americans” talks about the possibility of his enemies winding up dead or behind bars serving life. “Grease” featuring Dave East chops up a soul sample so the pair can talk about the work their plugs gave them just before “Warlock” takes it back to the basement instrumentally pleading not to blame him since he doesn’t mess with fentanyl
“Richer” featuring Flee Lord gets the ball rollin’ on the final leg of Possession with Intent responding to criticisms of being in their bags too much while the cinematically grimy “Jon Jek” talks about lasting longer than the beef you got if you mind your business. The jazzy “Streets Alone” speaks on putting family over everything & “Doin’ Bad” finishes the LP with 1 more boom bap joint addressing his past beefs.
Granted I did enjoy O.T. the Real’s last couple projects with Nickel Plated, the singles we got out of the Possession with Intent rollout had me feeling like it would become another one of his most essential LPs. Lo & behold: The most I’ve enjoyed an O.T. solo project since Zombie. A good 75% of the guests stick the landing in terms of their performances, but he & 38 Spesh both make for a pretty damn good MC/producer pairing.
Score: 9/10