Red Café is a 49 year old MC from Brooklyn, New York who broke out 2 decades ago off his debut mixtape The Supplier. He has since dropped 10 more tapes & a full-length debut, signing to multiple labels such as Desert Storm Records as well as Hoo-Bangin’ Records & Bad Boy Entertainment without releasing anything during his tenures there. However, learning that his 12th mixtape was gonna be fully produced by Cartune Beatz made me more optimistic than I usually get for his recent output.
The title track works in a cloudy boom bap instrumental talking about having expensive taste & the beans keeping him safe whereas “TSA Pre-Check” featuring Benny the Butcher finds the 2 proclaiming themselves to be the realest ones in the room. “Wish Me Well” featuring Max B has a cloudier trap vibe to the beat advising to not hate against the bigger man leading into “Water & Flour” featuring So Rich, which is my least favorite track outside of the soul sample.
“Red Rum” featuring Elcamino hops over some pianos so they can talk about their experiences growing up in Buffalo & what Gang Starr referred to as “The Planet” respectively just before “Private Room @ 2AM” admits to being fed up with all the Ls, snitching & going to funerals in addition to his twin admiring the beauty of his scars. “You Lucky” featuring Boldy James on the contrary leans towards a soulfully drumless direction talking about bitches who’re fortunate.
The song “Pray for Me” hooks up a soul sample & some hi-hats hoping for God to protect him from catching another case & making it home safely while “Payne Café” strips the drums again so both him & RJ Payne can talk about having more cocaine on their tables than the late Rick James ever did when he was still alive. “A.C.G. (Anybody Can Getit)” sends off Once in a Red Moon with a soulful outro motivationally encouraging people to achieve their goals.
A great deal of this guy’s output has been average at best, but I have enjoyed some of his features in the past & all the singles building up towards Once in a Red Moon lives up to the expectations I had set for it. Maybe even the best thing Red Café’s done in his entire career if I’m being frank. Cartune Beatz’ production is a huge upgrade from some of the Shakedown Entertainment founder’s latest material & he gives these instrumentals his all alongside the guests.
Score: 8/10