Yamin Semali Phantom Feeling

Yamin Semali Phantom Feeling

“New shit, who dis”, perfect intro for the mood of Yamin Semali's album Phantom Feeling. Though instead of it being a reference to Yamin having a new mobile phone used for communicating with someone who might be a stranger but is probably a friend or somebody he has business with, it’s an album which leaves the line open for communication and an opportunity to see what you’re about. Yamin Semali’s Phantom Feeling is a head nodders daydream. Songs made with the soul of Boom-bap music for riding through southern streets and country roads.

The sonic elements are diverse yet cohesive. With some of the production having more live elements, others closer to traditional boom-bap while still being original and more that incorporate more electronic sounds.

The themes of the album are quite respectable and even feel like they were made for the climate in which it was released. Most namely on tracks like Go To Sleep where he calls out woketivists and those engaging with marketable activism with lines like “Ain’t gotta prove shit and I won’t waste my time/So if all lives matter, bitch don’t play with mine”. The fact is that we are all tired of being expected to negotiate our humanity and will no longer do so, but best believe it will be defended. Let’s Go, Let’s Go that get up and get out that you need to hear sometimes “Will you ever get what you wish/If you never do nothing different/It's better to take a risk/Than settle for the what-ifs so”, reminding you that you can’t have different outcomes without different actions.

It’s good to see Yamin still out here releasing tracks and new albums. He is on his grind at the moment and doing what needs to be done. If you’re not doing what you need to be doing… Well, that’s what the song Land Line was for. Like I said in the beginning, this is an album that encourages communication, and is an opportunity to find out what you’re about. Don’t get hung up on.

RIYL: Thought provoking conversations and riding music