Bandit 2
By
Nam Nitty
It is always good to have new faces on the blog. This week I
am proud to welcome Nam Nitty, an emcee, producer and the man who runs Secret
Sosiety Entertainment out of South Huntington, Long Island, NY.
The album I am reviewing is Bandit 2. Originally released in
May this year, it is the follow up to the 2023 album Bandit (titled as a
tribute to the late Crysis BD, who was an executive producer). He has been
honing his craft since the age of sixteen and has been the frontman of S.S.P
(South Side Platoon) and is a member of the Mxnxpxly Family alongside the likes
of John Jigg$, Hollywood Peoples, Rah Sun, Scrooge Owens, M.O.U.F, Bentley and
Cigar. In fact, members of the Mxnxpxly Family and its extended family appear
on the album in John Jigg$, Enzo Globe, The Bad Seed, Da 808 Babiez, Rah Sun,
PillzBury, Kaeson Skrilla, and L.I.Fresh.
Nitty’s style is a reflection of world from which he comes
and details the life of a young black man. Through his lyric’s brings the
ghetto lifestyle to life and shows the good, bad, and ugly elements of that
lifestyle.
Nam Nitty produced, arranged and recorded this entire album,
only handing over mixing duties to Tee One at For Life of Luxury Studio. The
album is twelve tracks deep, so join me as I take a deep dive through all
twelve tracks.
The album kicks off with God’s Favorite, which
features John Jigg$. Heavy drums and piano take the forefront here giving you a
sound that is heavy with a dark edge, reflecting that street side. This one is
a no excuses given look at what so many have to do just to survive on the
streets. This does look at drugs and street violence in America, which is the
sad but true way that so many young black men have to look to when there is
little else to help them. Next up is Benny Blanco where the piano notes
are the main element, backed by a more melodic beat which gives this one a more
reflective sound. Benny Blanco is the violent gangster figure from the movie
Carlito’s Way (1993) and way portrayed in the film by John Leguizamo, who’s
infamous line is sampled here. This one takes the story and vibe of movies like
Carlito’s Way and uses that as a reflection of street life. The fact that
living that street life means constantly looking over your shoulder, on the run
from others, or making sure that you are not seen by the authorities or other
gangsters. Life in the concrete jungle is no different from the real jungles,
when everything is a risk and life is often cut short in a heartbeat. Nitty is
joined by Enzo Globe for The Steiner Brothers. The beat is a heavy head
nod sound that will have you moving from the get-go. The Steiner Brothers are
well known wrestlers in the likes of WWE, WCW etc, and here Nitty and Globe use
the analogy of their reputation within wrestling. That analogy shows that on
the streets you must have that fearlessness and reputation to get by. However,
such a reputation has its ups and its downs, making you marked men either way.
Fuck Ya Life features The Bad Seed, the sound here is
more laid-back, bringing a vibe that makes you listen. This shows that the
street life often brings a camaraderie between gang members. This is something
that shows that there is a good side, in a way, where love is shown between
members who become the definition of brothers. However, there is a darker side
to this where, those who disrespect are treated with disdain. Da Krashoutz
is up next and brings a heavy beat that will have you bouncin’. This is one of
those no punches pulled tracks that is a full-on look at the violent side of
street life. There is little more you can say here as the streets, stateside,
are often not a nice place and to life in those streets you have to do what
needs to be done just to live. Da 808 Babiez join Nam Nitty on Bigga Picture
where we have a more soulful beat that has a real upbeat vibe. This one has a
reflective feel to the lyrics; there is an air to it that puts you in mind of someone
facing the end of life and looking back over everything that has happened and
trying to make some sense of what it is all about…
Halfway through the album and you realise that this one is
hitting hard on many levels, but there is little time to think as Rah Sun joins
Nitty for Boo Boo. The sound of this one is heavy with a nerve tweaking
siren like sound that grabs your attention. This one hits hard too, looking at
the ghetto life from a different aspect. Here we see that memories of what a
loving mother said did not come to fruition and so the ghetto life became the
way until something more positive becomes the way. Nobody features
Pillzbury with a hard beat with vocal samples that provides the opposite of the
heavy sound. This one brings a vibe that so many know; there are times when we
have been at our lowest and the only one we could count on was ourselves. Now,
the situations might be different, but we have all felt that way at times. My
feeling is that this happens a lot more on the streets where life is much
harder to get by. Next up is Rollies Don’t Tick which has cuts, a
pounding beat, piano and an electronic string sound, all of which combine to
bring a sound which seems to grab you at the very core, it then switches to a
more chilled sound. Now, if I’m right here, a Rollie is a Rolex, and so this
one refers to the fact that a rolex has a smooth second hand which does not
tick like other watches. Now, that might explain the title a bit, but the
message here is something different. The world might turn, the rolex don’t tick
and yet, still more are dead. The school system fails the children, giving up
on those they call difficult. Without the right start, they only know the code
of the streets, and with that, money, drugs, guns and death…
Da Ooutahz features Kaeson Skrilla and has a more
soulful sound that is string heavy. That soulful edge can not disguise the nature
of life in the ghetto. Now, I’m not going to begin to know what ooutahz are so,
I’m just going with my feeling here. What I get from this one is that there is
a real sense that its all about taking out those who go against you. I guess a
bit like taking out a sucker rapper, but in a more final way. There is this
thing that the soulful sound makes a track like this make you think and feel
deeper, perhaps not truly understanding things as I come from a different
country where our streets are a different place all together. Time to move on
to the penultimate track, ASS which features L.I. Fresh. The sound is
pounding with some electronic vibes that vibrate though your mind. You might
have some idea what this track is all about from the title, and you would be
right. It is all about twerking and a particular part of a woman’s anatomy. The
final track comes in the form of Pull Me Down which takes the album out
on a definite soulful vibe. Here Nam Nitty really lays his cards on the table,
showing us what his life has been about, no excuses given. He also makes a
statement on this one, which is that he has been the one to put himself where
he is now and he is not about to let anyone pull him down.
Now, fist off I have to be completely honest here and say
that this is not an easy album for me to review. Not because I don’t like the
sound, nope that is a proper Hip Hop sound, that’s for sure. It is difficult
because I am not from the streets of Long Island NY, I grew up in and around
Southampton on the south coast of England, miles apart both in terms of
geography and socially too.
So, in reviewing this my main aim is to feel the music and
then the lyrics and see what they say to me. Now, I might be a mile away from
getting some of this right. I have never faced a gun and my struggles to make
ends meet are totally different. I get some of this from forty odd years of
listening to Hip Hop and Rap, so I have heard a lot of Gangster rap music. What
I have always understood about this music is that to make music that properly
reflects where you come from, how your grew up and more, you cannot be candid
about what you see around you and the lived experience that shaped you. To many
this album might sound like guns, drugs, sex, objectification and death, but
that is because they have no idea that this is what life is really like for
some. Either that or they choose to have that point of view, because
understanding that people are being failed and held back, would mean stepping
outside their safe little bubble.
Bandit 2 is a gritty and raw album that exposes the listener
to a no fucks given look at what life is like for black people in the ghettos
of the USA. This is not something many would want to know about, but within Hip
Hop it is a subject that has been focused on for as long as I have been
listening to it. It might not be a pleasant listen for some because it is the
truth, and the truth is often hard to understand.
Nam Nitty does a solid job with both his lyrics and
production. His wordplay is exactly what you would expect from someone putting
across the situations and harsh realities of Ghetto life. His lyrics are raw,
gritty and to the point. The production follows that for most of the album, and
yet there are points where he seems to juxtapose the sound to make the words
hit just a little differently. The features all bring their own individual
energy, complimenting the sound of the album and Nam Nitty.
Bandit 2 will not hit you like a sucker punch, but it will
hit you square between the eyes with the force of a 9mm bullet. It is not
pretty, but it will make you think and make you realise that, even in these
times, there are people with no other way to survive that to make ends meet in
the harshest of ways, in the harshest of urban environments.
My humble thanks to my good friend John Dugan for sending
this one my way.
I’ll catch you next time.
Steve.
LINKS
Grab a copy or stream Here:
https://secretsosietyentertainment.bandcamp.com/album/bandit2
https://open.spotify.com/album/30B0PQZSP1My85UR9eVHuU
Nam Nitty Socials and more:
https://www.instagram.com/secretsosiety_nitty/
https://www.instagram.com/rapperslashproducer/
https://www.facebook.com/nam.nitty
https://linktr.ee/secretsosietyentertainment
https://www.youtube.com/user/NAMNITTYSSP
No comments:
Post a Comment