The melody fades in, horns creep up, sound intensifies; before you know it, 20 seconds have passed and Myke Bogan’s infectious hook pulls you into the heavy bass and snares. “Pause”, the first track off Joe Fontana, is a summary of Portland, Oregon’s own, Myke Bogan’s labor of love with his craft. Bogan drops insanely delicious bars but listen closely as he isn’t just rapping for the hell of it. Tales of grinding around the clock, lusting for (the fun) drugs, tales in dealing with people of all forms; become applicable themes through damn near the entire project. Bogan’s 31 minute, 10 track, Joe Fontana, is arguably his strongest work.
It takes the perfect storm of the right place, the right time, and the right people to create a masterpiece and this is no different. Bogan pulls Khary, Blossom, Kid Indigo, Kazadi, Danielle Sullivan, and Ripley Shell for some of the most standout tracks on the album. Which isn’t a slight to Bogan in any way as “Smooth Motion”, “If You Wanna Know”, and “Pause” are personal favorites. To the point, these particular collabs give way to some seriously beautiful music in the form of “Pickathon”, “Leapfrog”,”On My Way”, “Groove”, “Calling You”, and “Runaway”. Even more so, these features accentuates Joe Fontana‘s thematic elements and compliment Bogan’s energy in differing ways. No two songs sounds alike and with a project like this, that carries some weight
Lyrically, Joe Fontana stands on its own. Which makes the production that much more special. Heavy R&B influences with Lo-Fi-esque vibes produced by 2thirty5. Most standout tracks from 2thirty5’s production include “Pickathon”, “On My Way”, “Smooth Motion”, “Groove”, “Calling you”, “Runaway”; respectively but the production is top notch from track 1 to track 10.
Many hot takes on Myke Bogan cap him at being just a “weed rapper”. I beg to differ, he’s the type of rapper to drop a sick song and leave you with something to add to your life in addition to the type of smoke tracks he already has in his discography. Joe Fontana is no different as Myke Bogan recreates this feeling 10 times. This project is definitely worth listening to whether it be during a morning wake and bake, a midday gathering or a late night kick back.
Listen to Joe Fontana:
[…] Portland OR artist, Myke Bogan also recently released his full length album, Joe Fontana this year to critical praise. […]