14KT: The Golden Hour

Once again Kevin blessed me with some phenomenal material to review and I can honestly say that this is one of the better producer projects I have heard. 14KT is a producer from Detroit but some of his music is clearly universal and some is out of this world. I guess this is one of the perks of writing for Kevin; he has all the good shit before everyone else.

“The Waiting Room” is the first track off of this project and I can say that I am blown away. This track sounds like it was made specifically for Andre 3000 and this production is hypnotizing, to say the least. I think I listened to this one beat about 6 times upon first spin. Like so many quality projects it’s almost impossible to pick out the stand out tracks. 14KT has such a diverse style that you can hear all influences infused into one project. “The Inside” is a perfect beat, in my opinion and the first thing that came to mind was “Illmatic”. This stretch of the album is real strong; “NNE Mode” and “Ypsilanti” are great and showcase 14KT’s versatility. The thing that is amazing to me is the use of sampling and scratching, since newer producers are usually strong in the former rather than latter. It is a huge comparison but some of sampled/scratching hooks are similar to Premo and “Ivory Pillars” is a perfect example of this. “Without Dilla” is one of the last beats on this project and it is more like a work of art as opposed to a beat. The sampling and instrumentation would make Dilla proud.

The Golden Hour is a project that all Hip Hop heads should thoroughly enjoy and keep in rotation. The title is so fitting because the beats take you back to a time when Hip Hop was Hip Hop. However, the music isn’t outdated and that is the most refreshing aspect of this project. It’s so easy to hear the influences in the music but at the end of the day 14KT is his own producer while a lot of producers fall into certain categories. 14KT shows us that it is possible for a producer to stretch the limits of our imagination but stay so grounded and relevant at the same time. My ears hardly wandered while listening to this project and that may be the most telling sign of all!

Overall Score: 4/5

Standout Tracks:

“The Waiting Room”

“The Inside”

“Ypsilanti”

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• 14KT on MySpace

Buy The Golden Hour via iTunes