To hear him tell it, Jay Worthy’s history would deliver him a computerized time 2Pac. At 17, the Vancouver local moved to Compton, where he charmed himself with gangsters and music industry figures the same. An opportunity spat with A$AP Yams opened entryways for Worthy’s juvenile rap couple LNDN DRGS; constancy and systems administration prompted EPs with Curren$y, G Perico, and the Alchemist. His dedication toward the West Coast standard — twinned with a skill for encircling himself with the right partners — has brought about one of the seriously overachieving rap inventories of the last half-decade
Beginning with their 2015 introduction, the LNDN DRGS tapes have consumed a space like Le$ and Larry June’s work: Reminiscent soul tests and way of life raps so unembellished as to sound made do. All the more as of late, as on 2021’s G-funk respect The Ballad of a Dopehead, Worthy’s dedicated himself to kind passage. His unbending stream and casual bars review Mack 10, an unobtrusive Inglewood rhymer whose associations guaranteed admittance to Los Angeles’ most popular makers. Beat determination stays Worthy’s calling card, and on his most recent collection, You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check, New York maker Harry Fraud supplies a record of intricate structures for Worthy and his visitors.
One of the most recognized — and particular — rap makers of the last 10 years, Fraud is as yet ready to meet rappers on their own turf. The most strong tracks on We’ll Take the Check play like recognitions for the LNDN DRGS sound manufactured by Vancouver maker Sean House. On “This evening,” a Moog synth and smoky horn test outline a mid year night’s schedule; the funk licks on “Winnipeg Winters” are fresh, however the vast catch seems as though it’s playing through a wall. With his thoughtfulness regarding specialized detail, Fraud reproduces the dusk on-Sunset gleam of 2015’s Aktive and 2019’s Affiliated, their whiffs of risk and expectation. Kamaiyah’s energized songs capture everyone’s attention on “Great Lookin’,” however Worthy slides over the perky drum design, outlining a lively California cityscape in a concise 12-bar stanza.
Extortion’s more vanguard plans yield blended results. The Larry June include “Pacific Coast Highway” streaks a complicated vocal circle, however the dormant rhythm and scarcely there percussion leave the rappers sounding overmatched. “All-powerful” leaves drums completely, and regardless of Worthy’s vivacious conveyance, his first-individual rhymes (“I’m from the hardest block, out in Compton where they shootin’ docs/Gangbangin’ so genuine, promise to God this poo won’t ever stop”) aren’t as dynamic. Commendable’s unassuming composing can make for a reviving area fellow realism, yet his vocals need profundity without even a trace of a bassline. The more downplayed beats on We’ll Take the Check would have been more qualified for a more eccentric rapper.
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Which isn’t to say Worthy’s music is entirely simple. His meticulous folklore — a Compton relocate who’s put in his time every step of the way, a non-local evangelist of West Coast funk — has developed regard in his took on old neighborhood and recording studios on the two coasts. He’s such a characteristic mover that his tremendous utilization of the n-word (Worthy recognizes as South Asian) goes to a great extent unremarked. His standing as a craftsman and a trickster has conceded him dish into a portion of rap’s most tenuous chambers; nobody’s making him utilize that word.
Misrepresentation is the very most recent A-lister to support Worthy, and the compromise between main events is the fundamental fascination on We’ll Take the Check. On “Helicopter Homicide,” Fraud’s gloomy moderation closer views Worthy and Conway‘s stories of trouble; when Big Body Bes gets started with an expressed word bluster, the melody changes into a work of unique craftsmanship. The sweet guitar test on “Accept” is an independent victory, and Worthy’s symbolism (“It’s the fantasy, little home slice, inns and snow rabbits/Big edges on Lex bodies, we thuggin’ like John Gotti”) meets it with enthusiastic flashiness. On We’ll Take the Check, an incredible maker moves toward the highest point of his game with a rapper who for the most part knows to pick his spots.
