Miami’s A.L Laureate is far from new to emceeing in hip-hop, from his work with The Brainstormers, to one of my favorite projects in “Closed Eye Insomnia”. After a bit of a hiatus, A.L stormed the gates dropping a couple projects over the last couple years including the collaboration with Soulseeker as the group “Flesh Of The Mind”. Now though, A.L Laureate is back with his first solo project in six years called “Precautionary Measures”.
To me, A.L is a rare breed of emcee that doesn’t come along often, it’s one thing to personal and talk about how much the world sucks and life hurts, but A.L digs even deeper and that’s something he’s done his entire career. The intro featuring Praverb (RIP) is a grand way to start this EP off and truly celebrate the life of a great man.
After that though, A.L Laureate opens up his wounds and scars to the audience and what takes his vivid mental pictures to another level is the production. If you gave “Flesh Of The Mind” a listen you can hear some of the same sounds and vibes on “Precautionary Measures”. What I’m saying is listen to “Flesh Of The Mind” if you like the Soulseeker collab tracks on this.
Tracks like “Contradictions” featuring Japhia Life & Devize really have you looking inside yourself and examining your role in the problems you have. As someone who struggles with mental health issues & insomnia “Subconscious Dreaming” was another track that struck a major cord with me. You can feel the nightmares and mental effect these struggles have on our hero.
The “Precautionary Measures” EP is a dark, grimy project that fits those late nights with a spliff and a glass of wine. For those nights when the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you can’t sleep. A.L Laureate is for you.