Sy ShacklefordI admit, when I stumbled upon this album, I didn’t know the first thing about Klassy. The album cover didn’t tell me much, but reaching the end of the first track had me doing extensive diligent research (*ahem* Googling) on Klassy: An Echo Park based tattoo artist who also multitasks as a very earthy emcee. She’s been rapping since high school, battling and recording songs ever since. Signed to the California-based label Beatrock Music, her recent release, “Good Seeds”, is entirely produced by labelmate FatGums with emcee features also from Beatrock. While Klassy isn’t on the level of emcees like Rapsody or Ché Noir, she has flow, a sufficient pen game, and a vulnerability (yet still down-to-Earth) in her vocal delivery.
“Good Seeds” begins with “Third Eye”, an intro featuring Bay Area rapper/singer Mystic. The production starts with boom-bap drums and soon jazzy drums once Klassy takes center stage. The piano-sampling “Redirect” also contains organs giving it the sound of a gospel record. Klassy’s raps seem to have a confidence and self-assuredness with a chill and feminine delivery. Plus, she also sings the hook. It ends with her talking with a child which appropriately leads into the next track, “Kartoons”. The lyrics seem to be stream-of-consciousness raps without any connection to the title. Also, for me, this is the first album I’ve heard in a while that contains skits. The first of which is “Big Nose”, entirely comprised of a sample from a vintage “Charlie Brown” animated special about love.
The music picks up on “Like This”, a love anthem with production that was tailor-made for summer on the west coast. Next up is “2hundred”, Klassy spins a narrative that’s an ode to her children, as the title is born from a humorous exchange with one of her kids about their age. “Northern Star” has scratching and some nasty drums that induce the head-nodding associated with dope production. Continuing from “2hundred”, this track is also a lyrical ode to her children, specifically her son, her “little Filipino soldier” as the vocal sample repeats. Her guests start making appearances again on “One Take”, featuring The Bar. Most, if not all of the guests are also fellow west coast emcees, which allows Klassy to have more a chemistry with them as opposed to artists outside of California. On this track, both members of The Bar pretty much steal the mic from Klassy over the jazzy production.
However, the skits make their return in the form of the interlude, “That’s Hip Hop”, another dialogue sample seemingly satirizing the perception of hip-hop. Oakland rapper Otayo Dubb guest raps and starts off the opening verse on “Go Again”, where he and Klassy rap about how there is no success without at least some effort, though Klassy’s verse is laced with stronger social commentary than Dubb’s. On “Genuine”, Klassy teams up with Rocky Rivera, the “First Lady of Beatrock” for what one think would be a catfight competition between female emcees, but that’s not the case. Rocky has both a slightly deeper vocal cadence and lackadaisical quality to her flow. “Personal” shows Klassy having something a spiritual oneness with nature and wanting some unseen target to not take her bouts of solitude personally with a Prodigy sample to drive the point home:
Rounding out the album, “No More” is the start of it. Given the topic (betrayal) and the lighthearted dreamy beat, this could be a potential hit. However, Klassy handles the topic with a degree of maturity instead of being vengeful. An interlude of the same name precedes the posse cut “Greatest Song Ever”, which features Marco Kane, Power Struggle, Otayo Dubb, Prometheus Brown, Ruby Ibarra, Do D.A.T, Rocky Rivera, Bambu, and Faith Santilla. Now this is a posse cut with a ‘90s-style boom bap production and every emcee brings their A-game. “Love Letter” is exactly that to herself, and a reminder to close a chapter. “Good Seeds” certainly has a spiritual aspect it, along with Klassy’s development in her personal life and as an emcee. Though Gums production overshadowed her raps at time, a listener cannot deny Klassy’s skills on the mic.