Conductor Williams is a 42 year old producer from Kansas City, Missouri notable for being 1/3 of the Griselda Records in-house production trio The Heartbreakers. His popularity in recent memory has been growing exponentially, earning himself a chance to work with those from Drake & J. Cole to more recently REi the Imperial for his Operation: Flamethrower EP last month. This ultimately resulted in the 3rd installment of the Conductor, We Have a Problem series having guests perform on every song as opposed to previously releasing beat tapes up until this point.
After the “Modus Operandi V” intro, the first song “Paint Pictures” by Evidence uncannily starts us off talking about fitting it less the more that he does whereas “Get Away!” by Rome Streetz was a great choice of a lead single attacking their opposition for being washed. After the “Board 40” interlude, “Hell in a Hellcat” by eLZhi takes the boom bap instrumentally to talk about being an anomaly prior to the soulful “Space Heater” by Domo Genesis points out that this ain’t what they thought it’d be.
“Ecstasy” by Russ has this underwhelming, melodic delivery throughout that just kills the vibe for me personally leading into the dusty “Hold You” by Benny the Butcher & Wiz Khalifa making up for it by telling everyone who ain’t in the game to stay in the bleachers. After the “Skin” interlude, “Guilty” by Leon Thomas III shifts gears in favor of a passionate R&B ballad just before the sample-driven “Down Bad” by Bishop Nehru preludes his upcoming self-produced album Solace in Shadows later this weekend.
The penultimate track “Necessary Cherry” by Wiki pushes towards the final moments of the 3rd installment of the Conductor, We Have a Problem trilogy talking about shipping, mundane & amazing at the same time “Kent” by Elijah Hooks ends with the latter singing on top of this subdued instrumental promising his lover that he’ll be there when they call him.
Other than a couple performers who punch under their weight, this is damn near everything that I would’ve expected from Conductor Williams making a producer project. The overall sound mostly sticks with the signature hardcore boom bap aesthetics that many know him for with a hint of R&B thrown in on the side with a primarily well-curated list of artists joint him for the ride.
Score: 8/10
