Brooklyn, New York veteran Skyzoo reuniting with Detroit, Michigan producer Apollo Brown for his 10th solo LP. Emerging in the underground off the 9th Wonder produced Cloud 9: The 3 Day High, he continued to make a name for himself with a consistent discography. Highlights include The Salvation, the !llmind produced Live from the Tape Deck, A Dream Deferred, Music for My Friends, The Easy Truth, In Celebration of Us & my personal favorite: the Pete Rock produced Retropolitan dedicated to his home state. All the Brilliant Things built itself around gentrification & The Mind of a Saint was dedicated one of my favorite shows Snowfall, coming off the Old Soul Music-backed Keep Me Company & the superior Views of a Lifetime counterpart EP to celebrate a decade of The Easy Truth with a proper sequel.
After the “Soapbox 2” intro, the opener “Abundance” kicks things off with a boom bap instrumental talking about there being no typos regarding what one’s type is whereas “Detours” keeps the dusty vibes rollin’ so he can shout out all the alternative roads he had to take “God Given” retains the traditional boom bap sound talking about his discography being stronger than it was when he began 2 decades earlier while “Keep It Close” expresses a desire of being someone this person can spend their days with.
“Table Manners” confesses to being up in here feeling like he’s got 2 plates on him & for those who have his back to stay by him just before “Learned Behavior” ends the 1st half talking about his people looking at him like an exodus & that ringing true today. “Rose Tinted” leans towards a jazzier direction instrumentally depicting a part-time trapper & activist while the crooning “Scrape the Bowl” flexes his vinyl collection could buy him a condo.
Meanwhile on “No Discounts”, we have Skyzoo soulfully talking about the prices remaining long as he’s still here while “Hear Me Out” discusses bringing everyone around him. “The Blind Spot” featuring Blu & eLZhi finds all 3 lyricists talking about being around eternally but once “Under the Lights” assures the illumination’s bright enough, “The Rearview” sends off Luxury Tax advising one can’t be afraid of the corners if they need their own bouquet of flowers.
The Easy Truth has always been one of my favorite entries in Skyzoo’s discography, so the idea of them running it back an entire decade later for Luxury Tax had me more excited than I was for some of his recent material & am overjoyed to say it’s certainly the finest album he’s made since Retropolitan. Apollo Brown’s soulful production matches the consistency of the extended play Sky gave us 9 months earlier for a cultural celebration rooted in duality & evolution.
Score: 9/10