Detroit has graced our ears with a number of wonderful things in the world of hip hop with the self-proclaimed rap god, Eminem, being one of the motor city’s biggest discoveries. While slaying the game and eventually becoming the most successful artist of the 2000’s decade, Eminem started his own record label and signed the superground group Slaughterhouse in 2011. Since then the members of Slaughterhouse: Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Royce da 5’9″ have all become household names alongside Slim Shady himself with Royce being the only Detroit native out of the supergroup. But if anything, history has shown us that talent can very much be a family matter and Royce is no longer the only one gunning for that hip hop notoriety. Say hello to his younger brother, Kid Vishis.
Kid Vishis was bound to make his appearance. Hip hop is an ever changing medium and there are always fresh faces popping up. Some will stay for the long run but even more will eventually fade. But there are times when you can spot the ones who are here to stay and Kid Vishis is out to prove it to us while trying to get his in the rap game. A Detroit native just like his brother, Kid Vishis began rhyming while he was still in high school before performing at local open mics. But big brothers can be a drag at times, I would know since I am one, and word on the street spread over Vishis and Royce eventually put his little brother to the test in the studio one night in 2003. Don’t you just hate that?
As a result, Kid Vishis made a guest appearance on Royce’s M.I.C.: Make It Count mixtape and it all began to culminate for him. While touring and appearing on Royce’s mixtapes, freestyling across the globe, and releasing a few of his own mixtapes, all this has lead Kid Vishis to release his album Timing is Everything making it his true arrival to the masses.
At only eleven tracks long with a healthy overall run time and a single feature from the likes of his older brother Royce, Timing is Everything is a solid debut by Kid Vishis. At first listen, the main thing that stood out to me was the clear enunciation in Vishis’s rhyming style which I enjoyed. I’m no stickler when it comes to enunciation in hip hop and if I were I am clearly listening to the wrong genre of music. I say this only because it is nice to not keep referring to rap genius in trying to decipher a rapper’s lyrics. From the start of the first track Kid Vishis reminds himself and let’s us know first hand on what he has to accomplish with his first bar being, “Welcome to the T.I.E. my new shine, I gotta be like B.I.G. to the new guys.”
After the self-titled intro the album picks up with Message to the MC’s and it has some grandiose, head bopping production that I greatly enjoyed. Throughout the track Vishis reminds all MC’s that they are “Sons of bitches” and are “Sons of Vishis” with a Maury Povich sample thrown in for good measure. The tracks continue on with a similar production style by the likes of Nick Zervos, Mr. Porter, Chase Moore, and Nemisis, all of which know how to cater their production perfectly to fit Kid Vishis’s flow.
The standout tracks for me along with the intro and Messages to the MC’s were Look At All My Sh!t, Beautiful Days, and Coward which featured Royce da 5’9″. But I must make a special note of Beautiful Days, anytime an MC takes the time out to drop some positive knowledge should be an A grade in everyone’s book. And the production properly mimics the feeling of waking up on a beautiful day to take in the rays of the sun.
Timing is Everything is a worthy debut by Kid Vishis and I’m glad to have been introduced to him through this album which drops on 7/22/14 through Seven 13 Entertainment. You can click HERE to pre-order the album via iTunes and you can follow Kid Vishis HERE on Twitter.
Below you can check out the video for Talk Behind My Back featuring Royce da 5’9″ and Marvwon (of battle rap fame) in the video.
I feel he has a lot of potential