Two of the underground’s most obscure artists reconnect for the sequel to their first full-fledged collaborative effort.
At the top of 2021, artists Tha God Fahim & Your Old Droog blessed the game with two joint projects, Tha Wolf On Wall St and The YOD Fahim, with both taking on completely different styles to one another. Tha Wolf on Wall St was the first of the pair to be released and opted for a more traditional format in terms of sound and production. The jazzy and soulful touch of the beats provided a fitting template for Fahim and Droog to go back and forth on, making the project a success among both fanbases.
The follow-up to Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog’s Tha Wolf Of Wall St best displays the notion that there is strength in the numbers; and when you have the two best artists in the game working together, the outcome is very strong.
Similar to it predecessor, Tha Wolf On Wall St 2 undertakes a short tracklist with a predominately soulful sound for its production template. Throughout the project, the dynamic duo of Your Old Droog and Tha God Fahim trade lines back and forth, feeding off of each other’s energy and strengthening the chemistry of the pair. As the two emcees clash lyrically, their skirmishes display dead-even results but greatly highlight the aspects that make them stand out individually.
In terms of lyricism, the combination of Droog’s hollow punchlines and Fahim’s introspective wit build the project’s character, bleeding with personality that the two exhibit in their rhymes. Every contemplative thought that Fahim releases is met with a clever bar that Droog throws on the spot, displaying a weirdly effective dynamic between the two that fits seemingly perfect. There are even times where the roles are reversed and Droog finds himself with the introverted lines and Fahim takes a jab at a one-liner. Despite the contrast in styles, the duo posses an unmatchable chemistry that makes each collaboration an engaging experience.
The template for the project’s sound is a blend of jazzy and soulful hip-hop fusion, remaining rooted in base laid by the predecessor. While the jazz-sampled loops are still dominant, Tha Wolf On Wall St 2 sprinkles in more soul-based beats across the tracklist, adding onto the smooth structure of the prequel’s foundation. With contributions from the underground’s most acclaimed producers (Nicholas Craven, Conductor Williams, and Messiah Musik to name a few) Droog and Fahim craft the perfect roster of beat-making extraordinaries that fully embody the soul of the genre and highlight the strengths of the pair’s exceptional emceeing.
Fahim and Droog continue their collaborative series with a solid sequel, but the overall experience feels like a blur. Sitting at a quick run time of twenty minutes, the project felt rushed, quickly transitioning into each track and ending before one could even blink. It’s understandable if this hurried notion was intended to represent the fast-paced lifestyle of the business environment, but even at its core, the project ends before the listener can completely sink into the full experience.
Creating art is not a sprint, but a marathon. While the opposite could be said for the dualism that is the music industry, Droog and Fahim aren’t the types of artists that rush for a release, but strike for the perfect opportunity. Though the record is sonically pleasing and allows for instant replay-ability, it finds itself lost in the madness of the fast-moving nature of its main notion.
7.5 / 10
Best tracks: “Wall St With Briefcase”, “Corporate Ladder”, “I Won’t Stop”, “No Days Off”
Mic Cheque 