I'm Late, But Bas' "Too High To Riot" Is Too Dope

I know, I know exactly how you internet fiends get. "Are you serious you're just NOW listening to that?  I've been on that since the millisecond it came out!"  Okay, so I haven't exactly been up to date on the newest and most dope shit lately, but when I see dopeness, I'm most certainly going to point it out. One of J. Cole's Dreamville protégé's Bas has been on the come up for a minute, but it seems like Too High To Riot is his coming out party. I had heard the Queens, NY rapper on a couple of Cole loosie's from back around 2010-2011 (I believe), and I have to admit that I didn't exactly see what was going to appeal him to people, but of course Bas wasn't putting out music like the songs on Too High To Riot back then. It seems Bas has finally found his sound.

Now I'm not going to call this an album review since I hate doing them so much, I mean obviously I'm not the most up-to-the-minute like these other hip hop blogs (since when is doing an album review the day it came out a good idea?), but from now on when I hear a new album, I think I'm just going to point out the things I like about it. And seeing as Bas' Too High To Riot appeals to just about every sense, there is a lot to like about it.



So yeah, Cole is featured on the album, and most would think that this would be the high point of this album, but the great thing is that it's not (speaking of Cole's feature, Bas and Cole have a really fun back and forth on their collaboration off the album, "Night Job"). Bas has what the kids today would call, a "wavy sound" that could get anybody moving. You can party to these songs, or you can just kick back and do some laundry to it, and there's a huge in between. The bass lines in songs like "Methylone", "Housewives", and "Clouds Never Get Old" are perfect to bump in the whip, while Bas also shows his deeper, more reflective side in jams like "Live For", and then he goes and makes ridiculous interlude types of songs like "Miles And Miles" that could lift you up and float you away (even without the smoke, though I'm sure it's heavily influenced).

So all in all, stay awake on Bas. He has an incredible body of work just in Too High To Riot, an album that makes him one to watch moving forward. Being under J. Cole and his Dreamville label could be bad or good, it's too hard to tell so early seeing as Cole doesn't have much experience being the mentor type, though it seems if Bas is going to continue being as dope as he is, Cole will have no problem with letting Bas do his thing.