BJ the Chicago Kid
1123
Release Date: Jul 26, 2019
Genre(s): R&B
Record label: Motown
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Album Review: 1123 by BJ the Chicago Kid
Very Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 7.2/10
BJ the Chicago Kid has spent his career straddling the line between sideman and star attraction. The Chicago crooner guested on singles from Kanye West and Schoolboy Q and recorded with many of the most distinguished artists of his generation--Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, and Solange among them, in addition to Dr. Dre, Freddie Gibbs, Vic Mensa, A$AP Rocky, Lil Durk, and dozens more.
Based on rating 7/10
Over ten years of incremental progressions paid off for BJ the Chicago Kid when he released his first proper album, In My Mind, cracked the R&B/hip-hop Top Ten, and was nominated for three Grammys. Although it follows by three years, 1123, titled after the singer's birthdate, is of similar composition, easing sinuously from communal feel-good jams to unguarded love ballads. As with In My Mind, it showcases BJ's high gospel-soul aptitude and ability to appeal to older and younger listeners, whether they pine for an enunciating D'Angelo or an R&B artist who sounds like an adult and can sing to stunning effect without showing off.
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