For those bemoaning the death of the New York sound, Esso’s Lifestyles Of The Young And Ignorant will provide a welcome dose of East Coast Hip-Hop. Sonically indebted to Premo and Pete Rock, tracks such as the Frequency-produced opener “Change Your Life” features the jazzy piano loops and snappy rhythms that embodied 90s NYC. The sonic style, repeated on the majority of the brief six track EP meshes well with Esso’s easy flow on the microphone—he never changes his intensity whether joking about girls or analyzing his past mistakes.

It helps that his words are worth listening to. Despite the album’s title, many of the songs show a lyrical depth devoid of ignorance. “Nicotine,” frankly examines his bad habit while slyly hinting at the societal stresses that may be the root cause of all of our smoking. (ed. Note: The Smoking Section supports all smoking and cig-related habits.) “Doin it Again,” appropriately co-opts a soulful beat for Esso to reminisce on a past flame and share his feelings with the listener. Even tracks of generic and sometimes questionable subject matter, such as “Living Doll’s tale of a groupie gone awry, are executed with skill and intelligence.

What Esso lacks is the charisma to carry off the more boisterous songs. The blasting bass and high hat of “Young & Ignorant“ should get the party started, but Esso can’t fully commit to the track—he sounds more comfortable reading from his book of rhymes than rocking the club. Depending on Esso’s goals, this may hinder or help him. Is he content to have an underground following who will appreciate his aptitude at what is now a niche genre, or can he show the diversity to appeal to all Hip-Hop fans? Only time, and perhaps a full length album, will tell.

Download — Esso – Lifestyles Of The Young And Ignorant

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