L.O.R: Loyalty Over Royalty

The ‘Famous’ Hip-Hop artist A.J. came Poppin’ Out in the new year with this new project that had us stop Looking For You and Ariana’s music and instead Coming Home with Plans to learn about L.O.R & get Addicted to some new music (Don’t Be Shy about your love for this album either after you listen). For those of you who haven’t peaked down to the Spotify Player below; those are all the songs I just flipped. Booya! This 7 track project from A.J. gives you a new look into the artistry and growth made in the studio. In 22 minutes he takes you through the dynamics of his talents from rapping, singing, and his innate ability to have the CATCHIEST damn hooks. Seriously bro, why am I over here singing Addicted’s hook in my head 30 minutes later writing this. Sheesh.

As a brother.. you’re either down or you’re not. L.O.R”  

Loyalty

Trust me when I say as someone who has sat down with him, there is no Plan B for A.J., and he alludes to that off the rip in Plans. Opening up the record with the intro, Plans hits the listener with a real simple spacey synth while he channels some inner Travis Scott fire on the track. Through the song you can hear the consistency of his writing from verses to pre-chorus’ that highlight the message of determination, focus, and his unbending work ethic to make it with his music.

Moving on from there he flips it on us and hits us with a the lead single Poppin’ Out. This is 100 the club record that’ll have you ready to get looking fly, look in the mirror, pop a dance move or two in private, and make your way downtown to show off the skills (good or not). The hard hitting bass and a flow you can’t ignore, you’ll be Poppin’ Out your seat to get to dancing. I can’t even go into breaking this song down cause you just need to listen to it. Case closed.

“Who you gonna be loyal to if you can’t be loyal to your family.”

Over

A.J. always has a way of surprising you with his music. You hear a song, and you’re like ‘OK cool, I got the vibe’ and then he hits you with it. After Poppin Out I was sure another banger was on the way. I was wrong. Instead Don’t Be Shy came on and I was pleasantly surprised. This head-bobbing jam, has a little of it all. He slows it down, speeds it up, sings, raps, melodically raps, gives us one of the catchiest hooks on the record (IMO) and lets us know his middle-of-the-night intentions with a lovely lady. The production dynamic is perfection with the vocal performance, working in unison to create a hit.

Now the vibes are switched and he keeps them rolling with Looking For You. Who hasn’t had troubling times in their current or past relationships? It’s common. This one he touches on some heart strings and gives a smooth track that engulfs a story of lies, arguments, mistakes, and trying to work through it all. Nothing is always perfect and this is the anthem for working through those times.

“Its what you do when the critics aren’t looking. It’s how you react when adversity hits

& it’s how you represent the people who mean the most to you.”

Royalty

To close the record out A.J. gives us Addicted and Coming Home. Addicted gives us something I wasn’t expecting… a super deep but relaxed rapping style for the first 8 bars of each verse. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it because I hadn’t heard it before. I had the ‘Thinking Emoji’ literally on my face. As I continued listening it’s perfect for this song. The production is on the darker melodic tip, and that voice mixed with the sing/rap melodies on the back half of the verses and THE best “Stuck in my head” hook on the project (again IMO). Ridiculous.

We’re then graced with Coming Home. They say home is where the heart is, and when that’s where your girl is you’ve got to come home. In this song he identifies how the music has created a gap in the relationship but that he’s going to do what he can to come home and be with her. In the song even admitting he’s “bound to fall” but that he wants her “arms around me“.

“People don’t even really understand what L.O.R means…”

Rice’s – Food For Thought

A.J. has delivered what Kanye failed to do in 2018; a solid 7 track project all the way through. From top to bottom A.J. once again proved he is carving out his spot in the game. He’s Lebroned this record. He didn’t just hit you with the dunks (bangers), the smooth touch pass (singing), or the press conference (lyricism); he gave you the whole package. Triple-Double. I have a very short list of any project, short or long, that are strait listen throughs, no skips, no song A.D.D, just the whole record. One sitting. A.J. my friend, you’ve added one to the list with folks like Kendrick, Em, 112, Linkin Park, Jay-Z.

“…It’s way deeper that what people think. It’s a way of life”

-Loyalty Over Royalty

After You Take A Listen Check Out Our Exclusive Interview With A.J. HERE

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