Joey Cool’s 8th Album Takes Us For a “Roller Coaster” Ride (Album Review)

Kansas City, Missouri emcee Joey Cool making his 8th studio LP a double-disc effort. Starting out as a long-time affiliate of local independent hip hop powerhouse Strange Music dropping a total of 4 mixtapes & a studio album on his own until Tech N9ne decided to officially sign him to the Snake & Bat in 2017, he then dropped an eponymous sophomore album the next spring followed by Old Habits Die Hard as well as Coolie High & I Tried to Be Normal Once. Coming off The Chairman of the Board & the Mario Casalini-produced Enjoy the View however, the Swankiest of Strangeland is taking us on a Roller Coaster.

After the “Poor Sinner’s Hand” intro, the first song “Madhouse” sets the Roller Coaster in motion with an atmospheric trap instrumental talking about Satan making him crash out spazzing whereas “Commotion” works in more of a robotic beat allowing Joey to break down, just exactly how he was made. “Heart” featuring Doobie & produced by C-Lance interestingly has this grotesque trap sound flexing he can drop a bag & it’ll still follow him since he lookin’ like he hit the lottery, but then the cloudy “Out the Way” talks moving surgically as opposed to being merciful.

“Drippin’ 3” explosively picks up right where “Drippin’ 2” from the Swank Sinatra mixtape left off reuniting with Mario Casalini telling y’all to catch him outside with the swank leading into “Indecisive” pulling inspiration from the hyphy scene instrumentally describing a woman as being inconclusive pleading for her to actually make up her mind. “Trouble Town” featuring Lil Wyte hooks up a guitar & hi-hats suggesting to let the world burn since there’s no looking back just before “Give Thanks” featuring The Popper finds both KC spitters praising the higher power over a thunderous trap beat.

The 5th & final single “OG Cool” concludes Disc 1 by having Wyshmaster lace Joey with a rubbery instrumental all in his zone hitting his stride & after the “Price of Admission” intro, “G.O.Y.F. (Get Out Your Feelings)” featuring X-Raided starts Disc 2 with both Strange Music artists over pianos & hi-hats telling everyone listening to do exactly that. “I Sent the Text” is a decent, auto-tune heavy pop rap joint meaning no disrespect to the woman he texted & made this very track about while “Static” marks an energetic trap turn likening this to all of his powers assembling.

“Parlez Vous” is this organ/hi-hat crossover spitting the gospel while “Vibe Check” refers to himself as the cream of the crop over more hyphy production. “Sail Away” featuring Ubiquitous finds the 2 trying to take their time on top of this guitar/trap fusion while “The Fuse” finds him on the verge of exploding over horns. “Slow Down” smoothly tells his girl to take things in their relationship slowly remaining the man even if he ain’t rich as she thought he was & “Crawl Space” featuring Tech N9ne reaches the end of the ride with a trap metal closer feeling on the edge.

All 8 bonus tracks that Joey gave us off the deluxe version of what’s easily the most emphatic offering of his career Enjoy the View back March unquestionably could’ve made it onto the final product that celebrated it’s 1-year anniversary almost a couple weeks ago but either way, it was a dope way to hold us off until he took us on a Roller Coaster trip full of all the twists & turns, ups & downs you can expect from an elite MC on his level of skill.

Score: 7/10