I Can't Call It: Ology - Gallant

Posted On Thursday, June 9, 2016


There’s not a day that goes by when someone isn’t trying to sell me on the next “one.” In fact, bet money that somebody is gonna tweet/text me before you finish reading this review to tell me about the next dope MC or singer. And 9 times outta 10 I always take those comments with a grain of salt. So, the other day my dude Chris gets at me about this singer named Gallant and he’s telling me how ill dude is and how his voice is bananas and how I should check him out. Now, since Chris is one of the very FEW folk who’s opinion on music I actually trust, I knew I would eventually get around to checking dude but it was gonna take a minute cause cracking my rotation is harder then trying to get a placement on a new Kendrick album. Now let's fast forward 24 hours and I'm sending out my daily #SongOfTheDay tweet (I tag 5 cats who’s opinion I respect on the music tip & ask them what music they’re listening to today) and Chris responds with a link to this Gallant and Seal song "Weight In Gold." And at first I felt like Eddie Murphy’s pop on Raw when he was like “what the f&ck are you doing with Danny Terrio? Like why is this new school young cat hanging out with Seal? Now, while that might impress folk, it does nothing for me cause I’ve never been a Seal fan. I don’t know his music and to be honest never cared to know anything about it, so from the door I’m looking straight. But then I hit play and I’m like, this jawn ain’t half bad and on top of that Seal sounds dope. And then it happened. Gallant opened his mouth to sing and I was floored. This dude’s voice is like…to be honest, I don’t even know what it’s like, it’s just dope as hell. The only thing I could think to type to respond to Chris was “wow.” So what started out as an unbelievable task (cracking my rotation) ended up becoming a reality MUCH sooner than later cause Gallant’s debut album “Ology” damn sure brodied it’s way to the top of my rotation.



“Ology” sets off with the banger “Talking To Myself” which has an ill chop of a gospel sample and has Gallant going in about his struggles with reality, “I’ve been talking to myself lately, I’m asking for advice slowly loosening my grip on this reality/tongue tied the dominos break, so won’t you lend me your faith?” and “Shotgun” is dope and has Gallant asking “what good is a sword, next to a shotgun?” “Bourbon” has an ill 80’s Prince feel to it and is dope but the way dude freaks the bridge is the real highlight of the song with me, “I’m a mountain less valley, I’ve never comforted crashing/I’m just another stone on broken walls, racing the winds in a hurricane/I’m not as brave as I once was, I’ve been kicking these rocks in a river and they’ve been sinking low.” With “Bone + Tissue” I have absolutely no idea what the hell he’s talking about but the song is BONKERS! “Sell me something I can use to catapult my value/treat me like a cardinal, anointed in my vessels/and anytime I bite the hand that feeds, won’t you lie through your teeth and tell me I’m a monument to more then bone and tissue.” WTF?!?!?! But who cares cause dude sounds amazing singing it!

 
The album’s first single “Weight In Gold” is amazing, “Episodes” takes the party uptown and has a heavy Nile Rodgers feel to and “Miyazaki” sounds like what we would have gotten if Gallant linked up with Jay Dee (not Dilla…there’s a BIG difference between the 2) back in ’99 and has Gallant freaking the Groove Theory melody for the chorus. “Counting” keeps the party uptown and has Gallant telling us he can hold his liquor like the saints do but at the end of the day, he’s counting on you. “Percogesic” is dope and smooth at the same time, “Jupiter” is just stupid and the breakdown at the end is worth the price of admission alone and “Open Up”….maaaaaaaan don’t even get me started on how f%cking dope “Open Up” is and “Skipping Stones” with Jhene Aiko is cool but Gallant doing a duet with shorty is like Nas doing a song with Souljah Boy. With how ill Gallant is, I would've loved to hear him and Fantasia trade bars a la Nas and AZ, Kiss and Styles, BIG and Jay, etc. but it is what it is. “Chandra” ends “Ology” on a dope note and bet money that once you’re finished listening, you’ll be coming back for your second dose sooner then you think.



The best way for me to describe Gallant to hip hop heads would be that he’s the R&B version of Camp Lo. Why? Cause I don’t know what the f%ck he’s talking about and I could care less cause it sounds so damn good! This is literally one of the few albums were I don’t have a flat out favorite song cause everyday my favorite song changes. This is also one of the few albums that I can listen to ALL DAY! And I don’t just mean on my commute to work and on my way home. Nah. I’m talking about going to work, from work, at work, at home & listening again before I go to bed. Yeah, that kinda stuff doesn’t happen on the norm with me and this new school type music. But when it comes to Gallant, I’m gonna tell ya’ll like I told my dude the other day, which is with that falsetto that he’s got on tap, he’s mos def coming for Maxwell’s spot. And guess what? Unless Max pulls the rabbit outta his hat trick with this new album he’s about to drop (cause the 1st 2 singles have been subpar at best) it’s looking like Gallant’s gonna be Flash & Max is gonna be Eddie Kane in the parking lot trying to prove to the Heartbeats that he still got it talking about “nights like this, I wish that raindrops would faaaaaaaall.” 

 4.5 outta 5
 

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