Antwon – My Westside Horizon (2012) [Self-Released] // Grade: A-

Welcome to Yacht Rap. Do I need to tell yall that I love Twon? Nah prolly not. If I didn’t love Antwon and Bad Slorp’s My Westside Horizon I wouldn’t have mixed and mastered it, and I wouldn’t have made a video for him. I first found out about Antwon via Himself when we met at a show back in September. I reviewed his Fantasy Beds Mixtape on the Bloglin last year, and I was waiting with anticipation for the follow up. Antwon’s style will do that to you. You can’t get what he’s givin anywhere else, and the way he does is is very compelling.

Every once in a while Twon kinda reminds me of Biggie, and on My Westside Horizon if we were to follow that thread it would be 25 minutes of the Hypnotize speed boat scene. And instead of champagne they’re spillin DMT everywhere. This Yacht Rap foray that Antwon is responsible for is a latent sound that was just waiting to happen, and luckily for us Bad Slorp and Antwon got together to make that happen. When you look at the Hypnotize video—at least when I look at it through my 30 year old eyes—I wonder how we didn’t get here sooner.

While the Yacht Rap feel of Antwon and Bad Slorp’s work isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, it is largely unprecedented. And what’s really telling of the mastery here in My Westside Horizon is the breadth of the sounds. Even though the overall feel of this record is closer to Christopher Cross than Kriss Kross it never loses its vitality. ON the opener “Turn Your Back On The World” the menace and vitriol still spill forth, but they flow in a shroud of carefree sunshine vibes. That aint easy, and it’s not even something you can do on purpose. While most of the rest of the rap industry is still makin raps about livin super-luxury style, Antwon and Bad Slorp went and made a record that really captures why it feels so good to be carefree. No pompous throne here, it’s just luxury tunes that anyone can relate to regardless of their income. Because truly, luxury is a pricetag thing, but the whole life of luxury vibe comes in many forms and it doesn’t have to be pricey. There are many folks out there living their dreams, and doing it without being obnoxiously rich. This is music for folks who are more interested in watching the beach chair than the throne. Amazing work here dudes.

- Zachg