El Chits has come back from a music sabbatical of over three years to give us his latest body of work The Return Of A King. The project title for the EP is a bit cocky, because nothing ruffles feathers more on the hip-hop scene like claiming you're the king. Unless you believe you have the bars to fend off everyone who comes for you, it's often been seen as better to let the fans crown you.
Now El Chits is little known in the rap game but that isn't always a good measurement of ability. It's often the unknowns that'll drop the hardest 16 you've ever had. Yet modern rap has evolved and it's no longer just defined by hard hitting lyricism. A good rap song is now a creation of a well crafted instrumental combined with a chorus that sticks in your mind and bars that mould to the melody of the beat.
Now I admit on my first listen I was extremely sceptical of El Chits mastery of music. I try to avoid prejudgements but unconsciously an artist's level of following influences certain assumptions. Now The Return Of A King is a short project, featuring only 5 tracks and it's different approach in the current system that features projects heavy on content. When it comes to whatever body of work, from an EP to a Mixtape or an album, the greatest test in quality is it's consistency. The Return Of A King strikes a consistent message from start to finish although the sound is bumpy to say the least.
The opening track Hello holds all the vibes from this EP. It has a slightly different dynamic from the rest of the EP and it makes for a great easy listen. It's the one track you can have on repeat for even an hour. The chorus is quite catchy and El Chits verses were in synch with the rhythm of the instrumental. It's without a doubt my favourite song on the project.
Glory has a great vibe to it, from the instrumental to the lyrical delivery. Talk of running circles like a hullahoop Gotta move gotta make a way, push anothe hustle gotta get paid everyday. Promise 1.0 is a short interlude that deserved to be so much longer. In the short one minute clip you can vibe to the great melody and lyrics that spell the potential of a great love song. El Chits to go back into the studio and give us the full version of this.
2016 kicks of with a short monologue by El Chits about how things stood for him in that year. And that short monologue takes the place of the chorus throughout the song. It's a song that speaks of pain and the battles his mother faced fighting cancer. It's extremely conscious rap music that takes you deep into thought and contemplation.
Throne is another track that carries a slow tempo and it's heavy on message. It again touches on the struggles of life and overcoming them to reach your goals. The throne he speaks of as the subject matter of the song doesn't seem to signify that elusive throne of rap music but it seems more like a position of conquering within your own life. El Chits is a bit off beat in the melody and rhythm and flow of his delivery but the spiritual message he touches on hits deep.
The production could've been better but it's a decent reintroductory project. We expect a lot more to come from El Chits and with the right work ethic there's no limit to how good he can get.
Greedysouth rating: 6/10
Checkout The Return Of A King on the links below: