Kutty Slitz & Leonard Dstroy
The LennySlitz Project
Chris Mills
Demencha.com
Local battle rap titan, Sephiroth (aka Kartoon), once told us that there was a time when Kutty Slitz (formerly known as General Ali) would enter a room and other MCs would walk the other way. After a 6 year hiatus from rap, one of the founding members of Ces Cru is back and similar to Godemis and Ubiquitous, he’s armed with beats from KC producer, Leonard Dstroy.
With seemingly every Midtown rap head and their mom buzzing about this record for the past 12 months, Innatesounds finally presents a 19-track album from Kutty and Lenny D that unfolds more like a collection of journal entries compiled over the course of several years. Even amongst a mob of expectedly-crafty instrumentals from Lenny, Kutty Slitz makes this record his own.
On “All I Got,” featuring Reggie B, Kutty admits “Yea I’m known to kick it conscious/ But I ain’t the type to act as if I ain’t got monsters in the closet.” On the same song, Kutty describes advice he would’ve given to people who slipped up in his life had he known then what he knows now. “Treadmill” sees Kutty’s chorus leaving just enough of a metaphor to leave the listener with enough to run with. In this one, he uses the phrase “running in place” in relation to the vicious cycle that is a life of crime.
“The Life (Fekkafriend)” is sure to make anyone think twice about the people they surround themselves with. “Daddy’s Little Secret” is more lyrical, but much less clubby than David Banner’s “Play,” but aligns itself similarly in detailed risqué jargon.
Whether Slitz is laying down a beautiful chorus (“Only U”), thrashing peasant lyricists (“Reverse”), or maintaining the overall thesis on The LennySlitz Project, one of killing his old self and beginning anew (“The Eulogy”), this is certainly one of the most raw, intriguing, lyrically rich full-lengths you may hear all year.
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