Don't look now, but Maxo Kream just dropped the rap album of the year.
The Houston rapper successfully leveraged the fan attention he gained from his philosophical 'Revenge of the Dreamers III' verse by releasing 15 songs with no skips—an achievement credited to the arrangement of Jay-Z and J.Cole.
"[J Cole] helped me pick out a lot of tracks. Him and Hov, actually. Jay-Z. Facts. Like he did the whole tracklist," detailed Maxo in an interview with Billboard.
The Roc Nation involvement created the cinematic feel that Maxo admits to trying to accomplish with all his projects, and it looks like 'Brandon Banks' is the first of many, as the 29-year-old recently signed a management deal to the label.
From the intro where Maxo raps to his locked up friend to the introspective outro, each song goes into vivid detail of Maxo's upbringing, life or the life of someone he knows.
For example, on the track "Brenda", Maxo shows just how much talent he has in the storytelling department by painting a story of a sad, but a true, cycle that occurs in many lower-end areas.
Side note: After over two decades of Brenda stories, it's time for Brenda to be declared as the black Junie B. Jones. I don't make the rules; tell rappers pick a new name to rap about.
The original Brandon Banks, Maxo's father, livens up the album through light-hearted skits and by serving as the muse for arguably the deepest track on the project—"Dairy Ashford Bastard". Since the song is so emotionally touching, there's a dad/"you up?"/no reply joke, at my expense, in there somewhere, but it's not coming to me. Just like Derrick Mayfield never came to see me. Boom, dad joke. You're welcome.
Another impressive element of the project is the shining features and its limited amount.
Megan Thee Stallion, Schoolboy Q and A$AP Ferg complimented the album perfectly, and even Travis Scott did more than sprinkle autotuned ad-libs on his appearance.
However, the most memorable feature comes from Maxo's little brother, KCG Josh, on "Brothers", as the two sonically contrast each other in a way that attracts your attention.
For someone with an ongoing RICO case, Maxo spares no incriminating detail on 'Brandon Banks', with tracks like Murda Blocc and Spice Ln providing the DA with more than enough evidence for trial.
Nevertheless, 'Brandon Banks' is filled with standout tracks and is one of the most charismatic projects of the year, as Maxo playfully bounces through his verses and hooks, infusing comedy within his street-inspired lyrics with lines like "I had a job at Panera Bread, I took that work to work, I was sellin' niggas bagels, I was sellin' niggas Percs" on "Pray 2 the Dope".
Listen to "Brandon Banks" here.