I Listened to Che Noir’s ‘The Color Chocolate, Volume 1’
I really loved the record that Che Noir released last year, produced by Big Ghost Ltd. It was quick, a sharp, high per-capita release and a great way for me to be introduced to the artist. Her rapping style throws back immediately to 90s era hip-hop. No bells, no whistles, no frills. Just creative spitting and harrowing and honest stories to tell about the come up. I briefly tried to engage in a conversation about the value of women in hip-hop and quickly understood that I know less than I thought I did, so definitely plan to get my head more tightly wrapped around the subject. That being said, Che’s voice is an important one in modern hip-hop, one that I would love to see more artists take note of and use it to inspire their style and the direction they want to take their music, both men and women alike. When I saw that this EP was dropping early in 2024, I was excited to have it be one of my first most anticipated records to check out.
Its four songs come in at just under 11 minutes, so it tries to make its presence felt in a potent little window. The production on each of the tracks is dope. The first three lean heavily on vocal samples and low tempo, chilled out beats. The instrumentals would yield smooth and chilled out vibes, a mellow piano in the first and a harpsichord dancing in the second. While the music on these first couple tracks are more on the relaxed end of the spectrum, it almost seems like Che (along with the features of Ransom, Your Old Droog and Evidence) is off pace with the production, almost screaming to get out of the gates and spit on a beat that would be racing at twice the tempo. It was a little distracting, as if the artists were recording to a click track without an idea of what BPM to link with. The lyrical content is sharp, but it took me a bit to parse through the fray.
The second half of this EP really shines. On Greek Scholar things finally begin to sync up and you can feel that these songs were ready to be made with a quickness. Noir’s output has come through steadily with a record in 2020, two full lengths and two EPs in 2022 and the aforementioned Noir or Never last year, it seems that she is feverishly putting together a body of work to be remembered. But on this track the big standout for me is the artist ICECOLDBISHOP whose delivery is nearly theatrical with pauses, staccato delivery, hesitations for emphasis and a dramatic flair on the core words in which he lands on. And the album sticks the landing with Che nailing a solo performance on my favorite track on the piece, the two minute twenty two second Vanilla Skies which starts off with a celebratory expression in its opening and smoothly bounces through until the end. I find it interesting that the hook feels just a couple of words too long, but floats in some middle place just long enough to not sound forced or out of place.
Just as the release is starting to find its legs, it comes to an end, but not before it continues to illustrate just how capable this artist is. Definitely recommend this as another piece to the bigger puzzle of her career and since this is labeled as a Volume 1, you know for sure we’re gonna see another entry in this series and based on her output, I guarantee you it’ll be in your hands before long.
For Fans of: Nas, Eve, Yasiin Bey
Check Out: Vanilla Skies
