The Band of The Hawk describes themselves as a Southern hip hop crew that combines East Coast lyrical substance with West Coast Swag (BAND OF THE HAWK). With this new album,’#BOHOP’, the crew created 13 total tracks that revolve around comradery, cohesion, and of course ill ass bars that we can all learn from!

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TOP 5

5. PYRAMID

What’s a Band of The Hawk project without Grind Seazon, right?

One of my favorite rap acts from the last couple of years, Grind Seazon, epitomizes that love for organic hip hop music that this album is all about. On ‘Pyramids’, listeners get this old school rap track from them that takes you back to the days where the ladies loved Cool J, and the fellas were marveling at the site of Rosie Perez. Grynd Seazon doesn’t approach the song on some lovely dovey s–t though, instead they approach it with this focus that I find comparable to the greats in the game. While the bars are exact on all the verses, their rapping style is still lighthearted enough to draw in casual rap fans too (Aka the ones that weren’t feeling Rosey as much).

4. CHECK

‘Check’ has nothing but coolness in its DNA, as everything from the hook to the production has this suave/laidback sound associated to it.

Rap-wise, the bars come at a rampant pace from each artist, and those bars are filled with outstanding wordplay and powerful punch-lines. You can tell both rappers featured have a point to prove on the mic, which fortunately for us, translates to this banger that will have you violently boppin’ your head up and down.

3. NO DISRESPECT

‘No Disrespect’ is dominated by intergalactic effects, numbing vocals, and lots of meaningful bars.

PEy3 has stated that this song pays homage to both Outkast and The Dugeon Family, and in my opinion, it succeeds in sounding like something
the group would drop… How do I know this? The unorthodox instrumental, the strong southern accent that PEy3 raps with, the soulful/uplifting bars all past the test.

My advice to listeners is to take your time in understanding the vibe of the record,
and once you do, you will consider it an absolute gem.

2. RUCKUS HAWK MINOR

‘Ruckus Hawk Minor’ is hip hop in its purest form! It has a triumphant instrumental, tough ass bars, and as expected, no chorus.

I can bet you 100 dollars that this verse was done without smiling. Every bar has this dose of grit, power, and finesse to it that you can’t avoid, resulting in a shake down to your core. It’s like being in the ring with a boxer that is coming off their first loss in their career, and you’re just looking in their eyes and seeing blood….Isn’t that fantastic!? (And scary)

How gangsta is it that they let the beat ride at the end of this song? I don’t blame the beatmaker for letting that s–t soak in.

1. MEDIATION

I can’t tell you how much I love this song! Not only does it mimic one of my favorite instrumentals (Electric Relaxation), but the chemistry between each rapper is damn there flawless on it too.

You know what ‘Mediation’ reminds me of? It reminds me of a group of brothers just kickin’ it at at the playground, spitting rhymes between each other back and forth. Not only do the artists compliment each other greatly, but also, each artist comes with their own unique style that allows listeners to sorta cling on to their favorite artist if they want to.

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SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. MEDIATION (5/5)
2. ANIMALS (4/5)
3. CHECK (4.7/5)
4. MY N—A (4/5)
5. MOCEAN (4.2/5)
6. NO DISRESPECT (5/5)
7. BURBERRY TRENCH (4.3/5)
8. BRUCE LEE (4.4/5)
9. TAKE YOUR FRO (4.5/5)
10.RUCKUS HAWK DOWN (5/5)
11. PYRAMIDS (5/5)
12. WAKE UP (4.2/5)
13. REDBONE (4.3/5)

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OVERALL RATING

(9/10)

Don’t you just get this feeling that everyone in the group had fun recording this album? You can tell each member bounced ideas off of each other throughout it, opening up to the idea of experimenting when it comes to the grand scheme of things. Every song sounds unique to me, every rapper comes across as a pioneer in their respective sounds, and most importantly, every artists pours their heart and soul into every song that they were featured on. It’s as complete a compilation I’ve heard in a while.

I feel like listening to this album on your computer does not do this justice; where can i get this project on a cassette tape!?