Killa Klay release 24kts Gold

The latest release from budding New York City hip hop talent Killa Klay 24KTS Gold features a number of guest stars providing added punch to an already fine release, but the unquestionable star throughout remains Far Rockaway’s Killa Klay. This young rapper kicks off the release with the scintillating opener “Familiar”. It has a deliberate pace and a spartan groove lacking definition compared to some of the musical density we hear with some of the album’s later efforts. It is, however, an authoritative beginning to the EP. Klay throws down the gauntlet with the confident and aggressive way he attacks the lyric and dovetails his voice around the rhythm in a way that strengthens the overall performance.

The explicit language running through the release may be a problem for some, but you have to consider context. Would there boats in a movie about sailors? Would a song about a car refer to how fast it can travel? Yes. So it stands to reason that Klay relies to a certain extent on language reflecting the reality of his life and songs. The EP’s second track “Don’t Play by the Rules: illustrates that point well and features 24KTS Gold ‘s first guest star rapper Hugh.Hef.Steff  in a crucial supporting role. There is a clearer groove shaping listener responses to this track and it carries over much of the same defiant spirit we heard with the album opener. Another strength of the collection this track doubles down on is concision – the song comes a couple of seconds short of reaching the three and a half minute mark but says plenty and packs an intense rhythmic punch in that time.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/killaklay__/

Cassion, another guest, makes a notable contribution to the track “Boss Shit” that, alongside Klay’s vocal, acts a balance of sorts against the post-production effects influencing the track. There are light keyboards sprinkled into the mix and they are shrouded by muffled echo. Klay’s vocal is manipulated by the production as well, but never in a heavy handed manner calling too much attention to itself. The EP’s final cut “Sancho” is the shortest performance included on 24KTS Gold and, arguably, it’s most traditionally “musical” moment. He makes melodic use of keyboards without surrounding them with the same production tricks marking “Boss Shit” and Killa Klay’s vocal line shares some of the same qualities – it is a more involved arrangement for his voice than we’ve heard elsewhere on the release.

This EP release from Killa Klay makes it clear, if hip hop fans needed clarity, that his first release Everything Makes Cense Now was no fluke. Some listeners may balk at the amount of guests Klay has invited to contribute to the EP preferring the focus remain on his talents alone, but many more will trust his artistic and musical judgment based on the exceptional quality of the material. This is an obvious labor of love and speaks volumes about how deep Killa Klay’s talents run rather than framing him as a flavor of the moment.

Mindy McCall