Von Pea & the Other Guys have embraced the EP format that has been hot this year with their latest work, I’m Good Luv Enjoy. They don’t front like it’s a full album (hello Good Music) but its brevity is a hindrance if you want more of it. The beats and rhymes are solid throughout but it plays like a flight of beer or a tasting menu; you  get enough of each element to get your mouth watered0 4u but not enough to satiate your thirst/hunger.

I’m Good Luv Enjoy – Production

The production is mellow throughout, with opening salvo The Twist setting the tone. The mid tempo track is buttressed by a muffled thump and lifted by strings that serve to change momentum on the hook. Pardon Me dusties the drums a bit and lowers the boom with atmospherics and vocal samples including a whimsical Von Pea and the “Niggaaas” from the Curtis Mayfield classic (Don’t Worry) if There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go. 

The pace enlivens with Thicc Rihanna, whose horns add a much more festive vibe. The track features the most upbeat production on the EP. Smoke Something brings it back to a jog, with the typical drowsy production that comes with weed-ode songs. A lush baseline and cosmic atmospherics typify the sound of closing note Get Well Soon.

Overall, the BPMs remain fairly constant throughout, aside from the snail’s pace of Smoke Something. Solid but unspectacular headphone music. And that isn’t a bad thing. Shout to the crew for including the instrumentals of each track.

I’m Good Luv Enjoy – Rhymes

Lyrically, Von Pea is one of the most consistent underground emcees. Although he shares mic time with The Other Guys, he is clearly the marquee name on this production. “Back pack niggas is back so pack niggas,” is Pea’s refrain throughout I’m Good Luv Enjoy. It sounds as a clarion call that in a music landscape increasingly driven by digital, the little guys have a clear shot at garnering attention of the masses.

Pea’s best bars come on Pardon Me with slick lines like, “Niggas know my Mic (Mike) is King, no vitaligo…This my brand new baby, I present the cigar.”

Overall they broach topics like grinding in the music business, overzealous fans, the shadiness of labels, escaping the friend zone, smoking weed, eating healthy (I know right?) and of course the infamous “They” who are trying to kill us conspiracy theory this time via food

I’m Good Luv Enjoy – Conclusion

I’m Good Luv Enjoy is too short to really get you going. There isn’t enough volume to really get you full from one serving. It is however a very cool, laid back piece of work that serves as a change of pace pallet cleanser from keyboard driven, overly moody music prevalent right now. It is current in the zeitgeist, with even the title is a reference to black internet culture. Von Pea remains sharp if not firing on all cylinders. Three more songs would probably been enough to really right but this belongs in your play list as we leave summer and head into the 4th quarter. Consider it the coffee beans that cleanse your nose before you sniff another perfume.