When you hear A Forsaken Lover's Plea the first image you get is probably some oiled up D'angelo lite with his chest out ready to steal your girl like Usher on the Super Bowl stage, not some dimly lit grimy Bed Stuy back street. But that second image is exactly what you're getting with this album, sorry ladies and gents. Chuck Strangers isn't some six-pack-having, singing savant. Quite the opposite really, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of that same type of love that you'd expect from your favorite RnB singer. He just shows it different, and that's okay. Matter of fact it's much more than okay, it's exceptional

Standout Tracks: Sermonette, Ski'd Up, A Forsaken Lover's Plea, Polish Jazz, Grasp

To those in the know, Chuck isn't a stranger. One of the original members of Pro Era, Chuck Strangers has been making waves in the underground for well over a decade now. Heralded as one of the progenitors responsible for the revival of boom bap in the 2010s, Strangers has developed a sound that seamlessly blends the old with the new. With his masterful sample selection and layered instrumentals, he transports you away to the chilly streets of Brooklyn with every arrangement.

Though Chuck Strangers originally made a name for himself producing for Joey Bada$$ on the timeless classic 1999 (Joey gives a fantastic verse on Polish Jazz, btw). He really takes the time to flex his muscle behind the microphone on this album. Showing off his prowess as a student of the game, Strangers' technique is flawless. His heavy delivery gives a weight to every bar he spits. That emotion translates directly to your ears, combining with the gritty backdrop of beats to produce a project that feels incredibly deep, with each subsequent listen taking you even deeper into his psyche. In an era of music where everything feels surface level, Chuck makes it known that he stands apart from the status quo.

Carrying a brittle energy throughout, the songs on this album feel rough around the edges. Not so abrasive that they hurt to touch, but instead something fragile. On this album Strangers feels that same way, like a package meant to be handled with care. The raw emotion in the lyrics pours over the instrumentals revealing someone much more vulnerable than a cursory glance might suggest. On first listen one might even recoil, like a blustery wind blowing down the back of your neck, the beats on songs like Grasp are anything but cozy. With an opening like ice Strangers states coldly, "Pulling smoke into the fog, the fentanyl took my dawg. Now I'm pouring Earl Stevens on the cement, pain the only thing I'm feeling." This wouldn't be the only time he touches on such subjects.

The naming of the album implies a growing rift in his relationship, but with whom? The album touches on Chuck's past lovers, his past friends and his family, and how all of that history has led him to this place in time. The titular Forsaken Lover isn't a boyfriend pleading to his girl to take him back, this is a man questioning the loves of his life: his home, and his music, and reflecting on his bonds with the pain and the struggle that his entire career has been entrenched in.

Final Verdict: dig this - this album gives you everything one could ask for in a hip hop album. From the bars, to the beats, A Forsaken Lover's Plea feels like the next evolution of what it means to be hip hop. At least, it does for the people who still care about what's real and what's not.