It's amazing to see how far hip-hop's influence has spread since its inception. It's gone from The Bronx all the way around the globe in such a short amount of time, and I think it's beautiful. One place where hip-hop culture is definitely thriving is The United Kingdom. The UK's hip-hop scene has been on fire for quite some time now, and Dr Lekta's latest album "The Manuscript" makes him clearly stand out from the rest of the pack! With 11 tracks and a total run time of around 30 minutes, Dr Lekta gives us a vivid picture of what it's like to walk in his shoes. The project is a well-rounded audio adventure that takes the listener through every type of emotion. Lyrically, Lekta is super sharp and proves that he can rap next to the best of them including legendary spitters like Jadakiss and Cam'ron. "The Manuscript" for me is just another reminder that real-deal lyrical assassins are indeed everywhere around the world.
"If you don't experience pain then you're never growing"
Dr Lekta - "Off My Chest"
Dr Lekta "The Manuscript" | Rap Nerd Review
The album starts off with a vulnerable track where Dr Lekta welcomes us into his world on the first verse, and a heartfelt verse thanking his wife for being his backbone. I love the smooth boom-bap production on that track. From there it goes to track 2 "Stay Sharp feat. Jadakiss and DJ Radosny" over a Premo esq type of beat produced by Osker Mike. This is easily one of my favorites on the project because it provides a feeling of golden-era hip-hop nostalgia. Another favorite of mine was track 5 which is a bandcamp.com exclusive titled "Lethal Injection" featuring the legendary Cam'ron. While Cam does his thing as usual, I was left in awe after hearing Dr Lekta go crazy on what I think is his best verse on the album! I can understand why this was the only track that I had to pay to listen to and let me tell you, it was money well spent. "Dedication" is yet another stand-out track where Dr Lekta shares a very personal story about the day he learned that his mother had cancer. A very soulful and poetic track that I imagine took a lot of strength and courage to execute. Another track that shares an intimate moment of his is the track "First Born" where he jokingly says that he doesn't want his daughter to date until she's 40 years old. He also makes it clear that fatherhood is very important to him. This is a feeling I currently can relate to as I await my firstborn son. Aside from the family-oriented personal tracks, there are a few hard-hitting bangers like "Deranged", and "Darkside featuring Big Twins". Both of which give me a grimy feel reminiscent of the infamous Mobb Deep. Nonetheless, with a style of his very own Dr Lekta proves that he's able to rap in unique cadences and clever wordplay. Every track is impactful, so this well-crafted body of work is all killer, with no filler.
"Excuse my ignorance I'm tearing apart ligaments / having rappers squealing like a pig its my deliverance"
Dr Lekta- "Lethal Injection ft. Cam'ron"
In conclusion, my first time listening to Dr Lekta was not in vain, because I'm definitely a fan of his now. Pretty much all of the qualities of a classic body of work are present in "The Manuscript". It's refreshing to know that regardless of what is sonically popular in the mainstream, the traditional boom-bap style of rap will never go out of style. I'm glad I listed to this album, and I recommend all rap nerds worldwide do the same! #RapNerdApproved
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Rap Nerd Rating (4.5 out of 5)
released June 30, 2023
Artwork by Scaz
written by Derek "Rap Nerd" Moore
Rap Nerd LLC