Yoshi Thompkins and Ronny J's recently dropped "No Rest" EP is a project that shouldn't be slept on.
The four-track EP exposes Yoshi's sometimes extraterrestrial sound and dives a bit deeper into his home of Miami, revealing this side of Florida that we all don't get to see. In doing so, each one of his tracks show a different side of his personality that gave me a more intimate interaction with the music, despite coming from a completely different background, more specifically with his track "BLKFLA" (ft. Twelve'len) [prod. by Ronny J & Nick Leon]. The beat is very sinister. From the piano and eerie choir-like vocals that transition into non-vocal harmonizing, to the snare rolls and claps. It all gives me this sense of worry because of the reality of how things are in Black Florida. Yoshi Thompkins takes advantage of that feeling inflicted by the beat to lay down the harsh reality of what happens to a young black man where he's from. Each scenario he raps either ends up with a man dead, in jail or with a baby. Thompkins intertwines those outcomes with his own story of finding a different path to survive despite where he comes from, with the message that there's light at the end of the tunnel. And Twelve'len's hook really brings the sense of urgency in "BLKFLA" front and center. There's no confusion about what they're trying to do here.
The remainder of the tracks (excluding the "BLKFLA [skit]) display the other two sides Yoshi has. His song "2055 B.C." (prod. by Ronny J) shows the extraterrestrial side. The muffled kick drum and what sounds like rapid closed hi-hat hits work too well with the digital bleeps that are randomly placed in the beat. I got a strong feeling of something big musically that's coming, something beyond comprehension. That feeling made me feel excluded within my own thoughts, like when someone thinks aliens are real and no one else around them does. "2055 B.C." is a good song that pulls off some dope effects. But the true track that makes this EP is the final song, "Crunch Time". "Crunch Time" came off as Yoshi Thompkins' killer lyrical side to me. The beat is blaring with out-of-control drums and knocks to simply knock. Yoshi throws punch line after punch line with an untamable, aggressive flow to really impress in under two minutes. It was the highlight of the "No Rest" EP.
The "No Rest" EP is very good. Yoshi Thompkins gave us many sides of himself that allowed him to shine lyrically and made Ronny J snap and experiment production-wise. I truly mess with this EP and can't wait to find out what's next to come.
Check out the EP in full below.
Lead Photo Cred: twitter.com
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