Here is the brand new studio LP & 13th overall from Los Angeles, California emcee Cashus King. Originally known under the monikers Co$$ & later Ca$hiu$ King until settling on his current name, most will recognize him for his long-standing affiliation with Blu & Exile in addition to him having 6 extended plays & 7 mixtapes aside from the previous dozen of full-lengths in his solo discography. 3 years have already passed since Lava Lamps & the London, England, United Kingdom producer Big O has been brought in to soundtrack a Water to Wine transformation.
After the “Barry Water” intro, “Likwid (Big Fish)” begins with this angelic boom bap opener talking about how both of them been floating through districts whereas “Precipitation” featuring Fashawn embraces a jazzier vibe instrumentally to spit streams of consciousness. “Cherry Cola” featuring L.O.U. & P-Rawb samples “Shake Your Booty” by Bunny Sigler to use it’s title as a metaphor for drinking water over soda prior to “Streams” featuring Blu, Frannie EL & Shari returning to a conscious approach to the lyrics.
“Drownin’” has a bright boom bap quality to it encouraging all to keep swimming forward when life throws you overboard just before “Hydration (Reign)” ends the 1st half talks about watering the plants of our imagination & tells the world to keep dreaming. “Drippin’ (Soakin’ Poems)” works in some synths so we can hear the Heaven in their skills to start the 2nd leg while “Potions” featuring G-Holy stylistically leans towards a more g-funk direction getting on their west coast shit.
Nearing the end of Water to Wine, the song “Swimmin’” brings a triumphant trap flare to the table talking about doing backstrokes while “Holy Water” hooks up some organs to make room for Cashus to get confessional on the mic. “Like Lava for Water” apologizes for having people fight their wars for the days they came up short & after “Dark Agua” featuring Big Tone offers food for thought, the outro “Wine” ends by asking who or what we’re living for.
Many including myself would consider Before I Awoke to be Cashus King’s finest collection of solo material, but this new one isn’t far behind it assuring the world we all have the ability to turn Water to Wine in the metaphorical sense of everyone having the capability of change. Big O cooks up some of the strongest production of his career & Co$$ lyrically takes audiences through an exploration of transformation at its deepest level with a handful of guests.
Score: 7/10