Over the past few years, the NY borough hailed as the birthplace of Hip Hop has been mostly quiet in the rap conversations. Aside from Fat Joe’s determination to stay relevant, Cory Gunz’s once believable hype, and Fred Da God’s more recent, yet minimal success most could argue there hasn’t really been too much popping in the Boogie Down Bronx as of late. BX native Denzil Porter is hoping to change that with his latest offering Porter’s Pot.
Throughout Porter’s Pot, it becomes evident that Denzil has a knack for storytelling. He paints vivid pictures with tracks like “Heaven Rain” and “Lost In Hell.” The former, being a tale of the wrongful deportation of his brother. Denzil’s normally aggressive flow shines on tracks like “The Truth” and “Bruce Da Bully,” but falters on “Boast’n, Bounc’n.” Titles like “Rock Paper Scissors” and lines like “who’s that cat in the hat” make it difficult to not believe Cam’ron didn’t heavily influence the young lyricist.
Production wise, Porter’s Pot dabbles in a variety of influences from old school New York rap to the banging 808s of the trap beats that have become dominant in Hip Hop over the past few years. “Outro” being the best example of that old school feel, though Porter doesn’t actually rap on it. Claws, who handles the bulk of the production here strikes gold with tracks like “Tone It Down” and the bouncy “Solar Flight.”
The tape is promoted as Not Hosted by DJ Drama, but Drama does make a few appearances. His presence, or lack there of is to “Let the music speak for itself.” That approach is effective here and allows Denzil to not be overshadowed by someone like Drama. There aren’t a lot of features on this tape, which may or may not have been a good thing. Though Porter manages to hold his own for the tape’s entirety, there are moments where he could have used some assistance, mostly on songs like “Fire Drill” or “Whole Lotta Os” where hooks like “why am I the only one in the building? It must be a fire drill” tend to showcase his faults as a lyricist.
The former The Break MC definitely has a lot to say, and Porter’s Pot offers enough reason why you should be listening.
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