TommyLift

On Stacked Decks, TommyLift exhibits his own laser-precise production steez while spreading the love to KC’s deserving MCs. This full-length from one of the original Flavor-Pak collaborators includes beats that would please fans of DJ Premier and Portishead, supplemented by a variety of rhyme styles: lyrical narratives (“Mary’s on Fire” with Nesto), a feel-good summertime chorus (“Good Ass Day” with the Playboy Committee), a feel-good anytime chorus (“Love in the Hood” with Nothing to Lose) and cocky braggadocio (“The Best” with Shadow). On the album’s standout track, “All Good,” TommyLift crafts a reedy, cobra-charming horn loop and adds an equally alluring bass track by the TJ Dovebelly Ensemble’s Aaron Osborne over rhymes by SoundsGood’s Joe Good. The album’s rhymes display a schizophrenic variety akin to their respective MCs, but their tales are all tied down by TommyLift’s rock-solid production.