It has surely been interesting to watch the careers of several artists take off over the last few months, strictly due to their growing buzz on the internet. Message boards and comment boxes have essentially taken artists like Blu & Exile and Jay Electronica from relative obscurity to underground stardom overnight. This new form of word of mouth has helped producers like 9th Wonder and Nicolay achieve notoriety as well. Dutch producer Nicolay first became popular from his project with Phonte of Little Brother called Foreign Exchange. Since then, he has been sought out by hip-hop and R&B artists all over the world, but decided to make his second project with Houston rapper Kay, who I, like many, had never even heard of before Time:Line.

Time:line was released a few weeks ago and I didn’t know what to expect until I finally heard it. Nicolay’s soul-drenched style of production really hasn’t changed much since we last heard him, but with Time:Line, the focus is really on Kay, who sounds absolutely nothing like most southern rappers you hear on the radio. His subject matter is dense, like that of a Consequence, but his laidback style sounds more similar to say, Obie Trice. Anyways, the first track on Time:Line is an uptempo track with some Gnarls Barkley sounding production and Kay struggles to keep up with the beat. However, the track is especially misleading when the rest of the album is more in the vein of Slum Village and Little Brother. By the second track, things slow down quite a bit and this is where I’d like to think the album actually begins.

“Blizzard,” featuring Toby Hill, is where Kay gets into describing his background and his roots as an artist. On this track, we also begin to notice a strong sense of nostalgia reflected in Kay’s lyrics. He starts off the second verse of “Blizzard” with “I was born in the snow, in the age of smack / My parents paid dues. Man, they marched for that.” Toby Hill, who sings on the hook, isn’t bad at all either. In fact, most of the guests on Time:Line aren’t bad, including Nicole Hurst who brings a sultry vibe to the hook on the next track, “The Lights.” “The Lights” is definitely one of the standout tracks on the album, discussing the tendency of artists to become selfish and conceited after achieving success. One guest who I could easily do without is Stokley Williams, who just sounds awful on “Through The Wind,” and ruins an otherwise enjoyable track.

“What We Live” is another great track, where Kay gives you the requisite underground artist keeping it real scenario and Nicolay supplies another infectious R&B influenced beat. “Tight Eyes” is a fun track where Kay and Oh No trade verses about simple relatable topics like drinking and going to the club. Things get a little bit more serious on “The Gunshot” though, where Kay raps about a child getting shot by a stray bullet. This is a deep track, where Kay gets into the head of the grieving family and describes the powerful toll the situation ends up taking on the community.

The last part of the album takes a very interesting turn though. On “Grand Theft Auto,” Kay raps about getting chased by the police and eventually getting caught. The track blends incredibly well into the next song “When You Die,” where Kay rides the beat like crazy and gets introspective, describing a near death experience. He doesn’t sound bad singing on the hook either. Kay also sings on the last song “Dancing With The Stars,” a metaphorical ode to his significant other.

Overall, Time:Line is a very interesting project and something you will never hear from the typical down south rappers on the radio. It’s one of the deepest and more focused projects I’ve heard in a while. Nicolay’s amazing production on Time:Line sets a colorful backdrop for Kay’s unique lyrics. Kay isn’t the greatest rapper in the world and he doesn’t claim to be either, something that will probably attract a lot of people who are tired of hearing mediocre artists boast of their riches and how they’re the “Best Rapper Alive.” At the same time, he doesn’t come off as weak or insecure. Kay’s talent lies in making reality interesting through his lyrics, which should be fundamental criteria for judging an MC these days.