The Bat Cave

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

Release Date: January 21st, 2022

Song Rating Scale

1. Eat To Live (Intro) – N/A
2. Split the Bread – 3.5
3. Eat or Starve (feat. Jynx716) – 3.5
4. Daily Bread (Skit) – N/A
5. Bless the Food – 3.75
6. Ladies Brunch (feat. 7xvethegenius & Armani Caesar) – 3.75
7. Praises – 3.5
8. Table For 3 (feat. 38 Spesh & Ransom) – 4.5
9. Gold Cutlery (feat. Rome Streetz) – 3.5
10. Brains For Dinner – 4
11. Water To Wine (Skit) – N/A
12. Communion – 4.5

Spin Rate: 15+
Average Song Rating: 3.83/5
Skip Percentage: 0%
Certified Bangers: 3

Thoughts: Che Noir did it again. This is the fourth well above average project she’s released since the beginning of 2020. I don’t know if there’s any other rapper that can make that same claim. I feel like this two year run is already enough to put her ahead of the likes of notable femcees like Foxy Brown and Lil Kim on the all-time list. That might seem like too much praise too soon, but I’d honestly have to give it some serious thought to come up with another female rapper I like four projects from. If I know one thing about Che though, it’s that she would absolutely hate my last few sentences. She wants to be mentioned with the best rappers in the world and she doesn’t want gender to be part of that conversation. I think that’s fair and I do think she’s earned a pretty secure spot as one of the ten best rappers or so of the last few years.

Food For Thought is a pretty short album and the biggest difference between this projects and past ones is that Che handled most of the production herself. If I’m being honest, her sound had to grow on me. Of course any new producer is going to sound a little rough following up an album full of Apollo Brown’s wizardry on the boards, but I think Che ends up holding her own. It’s hard to make a banger without really good production and I think she has at least three songs on this album worthy of that threshold and I don’t think there’s a weak song at all. As always, Che absolutely brings it lyrically. For the most part, she’s just bodying verses on this project but “Communion” is one of Che’s most personal songs to date as she touches on the recent passing of her brother over the most soulful beat on the album. “Table For 3” finds Che, Ransom and 38 Spesh all spitting fire over another absolute banger of a beat. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I still think Che lacks versatility in her vocal delivery and I don’t see too much improvement on this album, but it’s not something that bothers me much and she brings enough content and lyrical ability to more than make up for it. Che Noir has quickly become one of my current favorite rappers and this album is another really solid effort in one of the most impressive runs of the last few years.

Verdict: 7/10 (Highly Enjoyable)