New York has been absolutely killing the underground rap game lately. Artists such as Action Bronson, Smoke DZA, and ASAP Rocky, as well has his ASAP Mob, have brought New York back into hip-hop with strong releases and a signature gritty style. Of course the whole "Beastcoast" movement has really contributed to New York's comeback. The Underachievers, Flatbush Zombies, and Pro Era have been taking over the game with their very progressive and interesting approach to hip hop. Other then Joey Bada$$, none of the Pro Era members have stepped up to the plate yet and released a solo project. That is, until CJ Fly dropped this mixtape, Thee Way Eye See It. CJ Fly has really impressed me with all of his feature verses leading up to this, as he has great technical rapping skills and a unique voice. I was nervous for a whole project by him, though, as I feel he is a little one-dimensional. I still decided to give this a listen.
The first thing I noticed on this mixtape is CJ Fly incredible improvement on the mic. The guy is just a pure spitter, and he definitely has the perfect voice for it. CJ's deep, gruff voice makes him very interesting to listen to. As far lyricism goes, CJ relies mostly on clever wordplay, something he can do very well. Many of his lines on this mixtape make you go back and listen again, much like Pro Era teammate Joey Bada$$. Don't think this entire mixtape is wordplay, though, as CJ can also tell a story. The most prominent example of this is the song Eyetalian Frenchip. On this song, he talks about a love triangle he is involved in. He delivers this in a pretty cool way, rapping about his Italian girlfriend on the first verse and his French girl in the second verse. It was definitely an interesting listen. One other thing CJ does incredibly well is execute hooks. Many of his hooks are catchy and get stuck in your head. The hook on the song Tug-At-War is delivered very well, as well as the one on the song right after it, Ernee.
As far as beats go, this mixtape was just what you would expect from Pro Era. Rather than relying on grimy, "street" beats, Thee Way Eye See It is filled with classy, upbeat, golden era, boom-bap instrumentals. Right from the get go, the Intro is covered by a very elegant piano beat that sounds fantastic. The song Left Get fuses many different sounds together to create something that comes off very smooth and well-made. The song Sup Preme sounds very relaxed and atmospheric, giving off a really cool vibe. Another strong part of this mixtape would be the features, which were chosen very well by CJ Fly. On the song Ernee, Dirty Sanchez comes in with such smooth flow and great quotable Ab-Soul kills it on Sadderdaze, delivering the lyriccsm we all know him for. The very popular Joey Bada$$ is on the song Sup Preme, and he jumps in with a super aggressive, very raspy delivery. It is definitely different, and makes the song fun to listen to. CJ even gets Erick Arc Elliot from Flatbush Zombies for the Outro, and he sounds terrific, delivering what is probably the best guest verse on this tape. Even hip-hop OG Phife Dawg makes an appearance on the track Seek Well, and it is simply awesome.
One very interesting feature this tape has is that some of the songs are complete two parters. The beat would completely change and CJ would suddenly be rapping over something with a totally different vibe. I really enjoyed this on the song Loco Motives, but not as much on the song Crew's Cunt Troll, as it felt kind of forced to make something epic and long. If I had any criticisms of this mixtape, it would be that some of the songs were way longer than they should've been, but that is pretty much it for things I didn't like about this project.
THEE WAY EYE SEE IT WRAP UP
+CJ has proven himself as a fantastic rapper, great flow and delivery throughout the tape
+Terrific lyrics, he has amazing wordplay
+Great beats, from relaxed to boom-bap to classy horn instrumentals
+Some of the tracks tell a story
+Really good feature verses from everyone
+Some well-written and executed hooks
Best: Tug-At-War, Ernee, Q&A
Worst: Still the Motto
CJ Fly- Thee Way Eye See It
8.8/10
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