Chris $pencer is blessed with unique bars over mostly soulful backdrops and shows how great the team of Chicago emcees Chris Crack and Vic $pencer are on their second collaboration album in as many years with their sophomore album, Blessed. Continuing with the unique perspective both gave on 2016’s critically-acclaimed debut album, Who the Fuck Is Chris $pencer?, the two emcees show how blessed we are to hear the unique perspectives they bring together, while also showing how much the intersection of their unique personas makes each so unique in their own right. Whether it be Spencer’s gruff and ruff around the edges powerful voice or Crack’s colorfully flamboyant hyperbole with a nasal bite.
Backed by mostly laidback soulful loops throughout the album, it provides the perfect backdrop for the two emcees disparate styles. Most noticeable on standout tracks, The Trill Loopgod and Shark Wrestling. Crack on, The Trill Loopgod, spitting such clever, yet disparate lines as, “Fathering all rappers, so don’t at me. Pimp from the era of soul patches. Full afros and the copras classic. And they purses been gettin’ snatched lately. They destroyed my whole culture cause I’m a crack baby.” While Spencer complements it quite nicely with his own disparate verse of, “Ahh, Smoking weed in front of the Roxbury. You can tell from my posture that I’m not worried. Relativity making me radiated. Mary Jane waiting for me with my name on a peace of paper. I’m that n***a that give pizza flavor. Let’s move drink than n***a, so I need the chaser. A grown man can contaminant water. Trap calling me daddy and she not even my daughter.” On Shark Wrestling, Spencer also giving such dope lines as, “Ah. The world so cold, but I laughed through. Ha, ha. My life ain’t nothing but rap music. It’s filled with crack heads and n***as that act stupid.. Tell dumb n***as to stay woke and they act clueless. The fact that I’m still here should be a slap in the face. The Lord hitting me with accurate Grace.”
A real strength throughout the album is the battle-ready approach both have throughout most of it too. Crack really showing it on easily one of the best tracks on the whole album, Jill Scott’s Weed Stash, which also features a crazy energetic and dope hook from $tevie Adam$. Where he spits such dope verses as, “Ah, eating pizza on fine china. I’m dying. Lift roll up them pirates. And the Vikings was black. Somewhere in Zion, stunt rising, coke lining. Leftovers from a bunch of crying. Diving into the tree with fire, spitting like this was my last verse. Bag worth, couldn’t do this shit without people’s support.” Really spitting like it was his last verse with how much he goes in on it.
Blessed is by far one of the best Hip-Hop albums to drop all of 2017, but ultimately falls just short of being a classic. It being to short of an album, probably being one of the few downfalls and complaints I have.