Blu & Exile celebrating 4/20 with their 5th studio LP. One of the most beloved duos in all of the west coast, their 2007 Below the Heavens: In Hell Happy with Your New Imaginary Friend is rightfully considered by many to be one of the best hip hop albums to come out within the past 2 decades. They went on to release a follow-up in 2011 with Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them as well as the 2017 rarities compilation In the Beginning: Before the Heavens & Miles: From an Interlude Called Life, the latter being their last for Fat Beats Records. Exile’s indie label Dirty Science Records has since signed a distribution deal with Soulspazm Records a couple years ago, following up Love (the) Ominous World to explain how Time Heals Everything.
“Soul Unusual” begins with this soulful boom bap intro reframing the themes of “Soul Provider” & “Soul Amazing” using a newfound perspective whereas “Shoe Laces” goes out to every single avenue he’s ever known growing up in the west coast. “Crumbs” featuring ICECOLDBISHOP & Rome Streetz details the system trying to poison the youth by giving them guns leading into “The Bag” hooking up a funky small to talk about the money.
Fashawn appears on “Hard Times” to help end the 1st leg of Time Heals Everything hopping over a piano-driven boom bap instrumental so they can confidently state that no one can take this away from either of them & after “I Don’t Rhyme” continued with a 2-parter starting off a dusty beginning prior to a beat switch during the 2nd half treading jazzier waters, “Lazy Afternoon” turns up the jazz rap influences to describe an off day.
“In My Window” nears the conclusion swapping out the jazzy elements in favor of soul influences talking about seeing the whole world with his eyes closed while “T.S.O.D. (Triple Stages of Darkness)” featuring Black–Hommy saved the best single for last, rapping circles around everyone over an organ flip. The title track featuring Saba lastly wraps things up with this gospel-infused outro pretty much summing up the biggest takeaway of the album.
Taking another different approach with the direction while still staying true to the culture Blu & Exile’s music has built with theirs fanbase, Time Heals Everything comes off the most unique entry of their entire discography once again proves that soul & risk-taking can coexist without compromise by honoring their foundation & continuing to push forward. They’re continuously evolving their chemistry whether it be Exile’s soulfully jazzy production or Blu’s incisive writing style & I like that they toned it down with the guest appearances compared to last time.
Score: 9/10