You can’t mention current hip-hop fused with old school vibes without mentioning CunninLynguists. Kno, Deacon, and Nat weren’t playing any April-fool’s jokes and on April 1st dropped Strange Journey Volume Three. Looking back, SJV3 is CunLyn’s last studio album since 2011 and the further continuation of the SJV series since 2009. Needless to say, they don’t push out new sounds just to do so.
Starting off, all systems are a go with the intro song Ignition. Listeners encounter Miley 3000 which is a portmanteau of Miley Cyrus and Andre 3000. Right off the gate, we have some yin and some yang; two opposing forces working towards somewhat same goals of leaving a legacy — a balance of new vs. old.
Over the next 17 tracks, almost all instrumentals are faintly reminiscent of ’01 Cunnin roots. The production and execution shine gleamingly bright throughout. Sift through and you’ll find a handful of gems. Even the few filler or “fluff” tracks give listeners a message.
However, a small handful of tracks on Strange Journey Volume Three seemingly become repetitive. The featured artists and instrumentals are monotonous roughly three-quarters of the way in. Regardless, I know most of these other tracks I’ll be bumping for many years down the road. This album is recommended to anyone into modern underground hip-hop with twists of the old school. Overall, Strange Volume 3 has slower paced songs containing down-to-earth “chill” vibes.
