This is the 29th studio LP from French-American emcee Napoleon da Legend. Heads in the underground should already be familiar with him due to the lengthy discography that he’s built up for himself for nearly the past decade including Coup D’État, it’s sequel, Street Universe, Dragon Ball G, the Sicknature-produced Colossus of GOATS, Buckets or the DJ D-Styles-produced Invincibl Rap Mislz & the DJ Rhettmatic-produced Legmatic. 8 months later, he & JR Swiftz are coming together on Great Minds.
“Death Star Lazer Beam” kicks things off with this airy boom bap intro talking about not wasting time & making money with his whereas “Raining Sledgehammers” aggressively sends a message to everyone who thought it was over for him. “Destroy Your Ego” sets out to dismantle the egos of everyone who ain’t willing to go the distance just before “Pride” maintains a dusty edge feeling like failure coming up similarly to the reaper.
Moving on from there, “K.O.B.” keeps it in the basement boasting that his style is impeccable while “My Truth” featuring REKS finds the 2 linking up to apply lyrical pressure. “Sniperific” featuring Nejma Nefertiti rawly demands respect & $1M each while “Righteous” featuring Awon gets together to talk about their grind being unbelievable. “Sistine Gravel” concludes Great Minds on a piano-driven note cautioning no one wants smoke with him.
Napoleon usually comes out with more than 1 project a year in contrast to Legmatic being his only 2024 offering but either way: Great Minds continues to maintain the high level of quality that its predecessor achieved. JR Swiftz’ boom bap production carries the Griselda sound over strongly & Napoleon himself taking 8 months off to focus on making this another standout in his vast discography feels evident.
Score: 9/10
