Let us begin by acknowledging the widely accepted fact that, despite living in the savage badlands between cultural and critical appeal and commercial success, Sean Price is fucking talented. A fine lyricist coming off of the critically acclaimed Mic Tyson, Price takes to XXL’s Statik Selektah hosted Show N’ Off freestyle series with murderous precision, and drops roughly a minute’s worth of bars that rival other rapper’s entire cuts in terms of sheer hip-hop enjoyment. This is the aural equivalent to a key bump of high grade coke as opposed to some stepped on, college town drug dealer bullshit.
It begins with the beat, which is simplicity itself, and Price opens with a roiling boil of bars that bubbles and pops like pouring shell pasta into the pot. Opening strong is a hallmark of a veteran, a way to kick the door in and assert dominance before the listener is ready to apply a critical ear to the proceedings. Having already made his entrance, Price then slows it down a bit, and moves through the tried and true boasts that, while no doubt delivered better from him than most other cats, also benefit immensely from the opening lines. Price closes with a particularly snappy pice of wordplay–“We ain’t releated/So fuck all that relatively speaking'”–which bookends the introductory salvo and effectively ends his attack.
A veteran, Price drops a lean, classic freestyle, and proves the tired line that quality trumps quantity.
Listen to Sean Price’s “Show N’ Off” Freestyle here.
Sean Price’s “Show N’ Off” Freestyle receives a PARL
Rating:
P…Horrible
PA…Tolerable
PAR…Good
PARL…Kinda Great
PARLÉ… Classic
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