Manger on McNichols by Boldy James

Best Tracks: B.B Butcher, The Middle of Next Month, Got Flicked (Rebirth)
Genre: Jazz Rap, Post Jazz
Year: 2020

Manger on McNichols is timeless. I don’t mean this in the sense that it will never sound dated (even though I bet it won’t), but instead that the narrative being told here is nonlinear. Boldly’s lyrics come off as prophetic, telling us the story of his life before it has even happened. In “The Middle of Next Month”, for instance, Boldy describes what will happen in his near future, as if it has already happened. In this hypothetical future, he will go to jail for murder, and in past-tense, he tells us who specifically sent him letters while he was there. In “Mommy Dearest” too, we hear a reporter inquiring about the very song we are listening to, and we get to hear Boldy’s answers about its songwriting process.

While this could be just an interesting lyrical perspective, this timelessness came to be from the album’s very production process. Being recorded over the course of 11 years, songs had been written and rewritten as Boldy’s life progressed. As Boldy confessed on the album, Sterling Toles was constantly pushing him to get more personal in his lyrics. There were many lines that have been rewritten over and over again, while others likely remained from years ago. The result is a collage across time, capturing moments from across Boldy’s life to tell his story.

Sterling Toles also perfected this timeless feeling when it comes to the instrumentation on this album. Though there isn’t much to go off of yet, Sterling Toles could easily become my favourite hip hop producer of all time. The low-fidelity recordings Toles captured mesh perfectly with the genuine samples he used. This is done so well to where you cam hardly distinguish between what is new and what is old. This whole album sounds aged and dusty, making it stand apart from the cleanly engineered beats I am used to hearing. Even the synthesisers here sound as if they were recorded on a 1968 tape machine. When the outcome is this good, it’s ultimately irrelevant if this came from a low budget and a substandard studio, or if it was entirely from Toles’ incredible skills as an engineer and producer. My guess is a bit of both.

Manger on McNichols is a timeless mix of vulnerability, storytelling, musicianship, and sampling. It is not only my favourite album of 2020, but a strong contender for the greatest hip hop album I’ve ever heard.