In front of us is the 5th studio LP from Detroit, Michigan veteran Fat Ray. A member of the trio B.R. Gunna alongside Black Milk & Young RJ, he would eventually go solo in 2008 by releasing the criminally slept-on The Set Up, but it wouldn’t be until a full decade later when it was followed with both The Lunch Room mixtape & then his sophomore effort Perseus. Santa Barbara proved to be the strongest since his debut until Food From the Gods topped it, dropping Santa Rosa in preparation for Food From the Gods II.
“Rap City in the Basement” hops over a drumless loop talking about having a lot of room for improvement & being 1 with the microphone whereas “Plates” energetically looks to flip the script every time he gets off the stage across the country. “2 B’s” gives off a more aggressive vibe talking about being in it to win it leading into “Fast Freddy” featuring Black Thought bringing both of them together to get on their battle shit lyrically.
The title track fuses boom bap with hints of jazz rap talking about moving shit all across America while “K-Dot Pool” looks to run up some plays until it feels like sap to everyone else. “Good Sense” brings some horns into the fold talking about how all his squad does it plot & maneuver just before “High Score” featuring Marv Won discusses all of these phony muhfuckas imitating their styles spreading a lot of poison in the music industry today.
“Lockdown” gets the last leg of Santa Rosa going cautioning that nobody wants to get shot down by him while “Big Worm” has a bit a funkier sound to it talking about having to make some turns because it was all apart of the process. “Change Us” featuring billy woods leans towards a drumless chipmunk soul direction explaining that they were raised by the homicide right near the danger & “Mitch Green / Scudded” spends the album’s last 4 minutes delivering a 2-parter.
Seeing the amount of love Food From the Gods got last year made me really happy for Fat Ray because it was his way of showing how far he’s come since The Set Up, but I’m happy we got a Santa Barbara sequel in preparation of Food From the Gods II because fans of Santa Rosa’s predecessor will enjoy the follow-up as much. Ray’s hardcore/gangsta lyricism & Raphy’s varied production that made Santa Barbara so great is being brought back albeit amplified & bringing more higher profile guests on board.
Score: 8/10
