I would like to start this literary piece by apologizing for being so late on reviewing such a classic sounding album. Mumbais Finest is the first crew from Mumbai and they make sounding dope look easy but it is only because of their efforts their music sounds effortless. Your favorite rappers from Bombay have been influenced by ACE in one or the other and he has fathered the scene since it’s inception. I recall meeting Kinga and this guy has got bars for days and probably one of the slickest freestylers in the country. Ninja is involved in almost spheres of hip-hop, be it B-Boying or emceeing this dude is a champ at it all.
The album Mumbai Till I Die is honestly a breath of fresh air and seems to be influenced by the golden era of hiphop when rap used to be meaningful. The beats vary from heavy and grungy to laidback and head bopping. Kinga himself has produced 4 beats in the album and all of them are well executed. The album is packed with a variety of content and the reason why Mumbais Finest reached where they are is because of the ability of the constituting emcees to deliver bars. Overall the album is tight, however if there would be any suggestions to be given it would probably be to just touch up a little bit on the production quality of the final product…. this also is just my personal suggestion and I could be wrong about it.
The following is a track by track review of the album Mumbai Till I Die.
1. What you talkin about
The track is perfect to kick off the album. It is a grungy track and has an anthem type of feel to it. I absolutely loved the hook and Ninjas verse. Ninja has a very Mumbai feel to his voice which complements the beat. The track is an answer to people who might have any misconceptions about the crew.
2. Do this till my death
The message is simple, they do not care about any judgements and opinions. They have been doing it for a long time and they have come too far to give an honest fuck about it. The USP of the track is it’s composition. All 3 of them together put down English bars for the first verse and they put down Hindi bars together for the 2nd verse. The track makes Mumbais Finest sounds like a unit and not 3 emcees just putting down independent emcees.
3. Mumbai till I die
This could easily be the best track of the album. All the emcees sound hungry and the title of track is enough to tell you what the track is about. This track has the best instrumental and is absolutely banging.
4. Destruction
This is just an instrumental which features D-Hood who is the official beatboxer for the crew. I like all the elements used in the beat but maybe it could use a tighter mixing and mastering session.
5. Desi Rap
Mumbais Finest is the oldest crew from Mumbai so it is only fair that they convey their perception about the genre. The three emcees come together and flow together exchanging bars and once again showing the intricacy in their technique and showing their working as a unit and not just independent emcees. I love the rhyme structure of all the emcees and the verse sounds like it has been delivered by a single rapper. The beat is bumpy and gets your head bopping.
6. We roke hum roke na
Yet again the title is self explanatory. However I am not sure if the instrumental used for this track suited the type of ambience the emcees wanted to project. The verses are yet again spot on and the flow is tight. Kinga’s voice texture is coarse which makes him sound the most hungry among the crew. I personally feel a better beat would have elevated the song to a banger type of a track.
7. Beastmode
Mumbais Finest successfully make you reminisce about the classic era of HipHop. That old school snare in the beat slaps the eardrum and the laid back delivery accompanies it nicely. A must check out.