Los Angeles, California deejay/producer DJ Rhettmatic teaming up with Brooklyn, New York emcee, singer & producer Q-Unique for his 4th studio LP. Emerging as 1/4 of the Arsonists & the lead singer of the 3-man hard rock outfit Stillwill, he’s also built up impressive solo discography for himself since the Uncle Howie Records-backed Vengeance is Mine nearly 2 decades back at this point. He would follow it up the previous decade with Between Heaven & Hell alongside BlaQ Coffee and The Mechanic before Stillwill bassist Fieldy of KoЯn fame produced the Pound for Pound EP. Coming off the Royal Blood EP produced by Jake Palumbo however, Rhettmatic’s handling The QR Code.
After the intro, “Cypha Up” aggressively opens up encouraging people to study with him & make some bread whereas “It Only Leads the Way” ruggedly describes an identity crisis some artists may experience after being deluded by materialism. “Fire Vision” featuring LMNO finds the pair linking up to flex their lyrical proficiencies over a raw beat just before “Suckess” talks about their experiences of people becoming unrecognizable after achieving success.
“The Good Life” encourages all shine their light through changes they make prior to “All in the Mind” featuring Ras Kass aggressively kicking off the 2nd leg teaming up to talk about the dangers of overthinking. “The Meltdown” featuring Esoteric joins forces for a cutthroat battle rap cut while “Comic Con Nerd Shit” featuring Pharoahe Monch pits the rebels against the stars. “Let’s Rock” embraces a rap rock vibe for a mosh anthem & the outro “Faith” talks about his everlasting future.
Excluding both Pound for Pound & Royal Blood because those were EPs, I might have to put The QR Code above Between Heaven & Hell & The Mechanic as Q-Unique’s 2nd best full-length rivaling his debut Vengeance is Mine to become the finest collection of material he’s made on his own. DJ Rhettmatic’s production paired with the concept of being original, staying authentic, respecting hip hop culture & never following the crowd sets the standard instead of chasing trends.
Score: 8/10