Emay has been one of Hamilton’s most interesting and elusive rappers for a few years now. He had a large online following before he even started playing shows. He makes most of his own beats. His writing is incredibly impressive and he makes it all seem so chill. Emay’s not the type of artist that’s going to make a big fuss or talk your ear off about how ‘the haters are his motivators’ or any of that nonsense. He is insightful, intelligent, and really skilled at translating his thoughts beautifully into beats and lyrics.
While Emay has released a few things in the past, Ilah is his first official full-length album. This album is full of Emay’s verbose delivery and really nice production values. You get a lot of album out of this album if that makes sense. Each of these songs is packed with lyrical gymnastics, stories, and references that you’ll have to hear a few times to unpack. It’s not a 20+ track playlist where you could sleep through half of it and still get the gist.
Ilah is a terrific album and you should definitely listen to it. Emay is having his Hamilton album release show this Thursday (May 18th) at the Casbah.
