ALBUM REVIEW: R.O.M.E. BY PHILLY'S ICH {INNER CITY HUSTLERS} @jimmydasaint1 @thehypemagazine

Philadelphia is noted for being a hot bed for new music. From the city of brotherly love comes the hottest rap group in Philly, Inner City Hustlers. The group consists of 8 members (Young Savage, Bossman, Scorp Da Boy, HH Spady, Pusha Feek, K.Walker, Shorty Raw, and Sport Sinner) and they are led by hip-hop entrepreneur, Jimmy DaSaint, ICH Gang as they are known has been making noise in the Philadelphia region for the last three years with their four street releases. 

  ICH Gang under the leadership of Jimmy DaSaint, continues to expand on the legacy of the "Sound of Philly" which brought many many legendary artists who we won't list for fear of annoying someone because we left out a particular name. EVERYBODY in the world music and entertainment knows about Philly and its iconic musical greats as well as the contributions of that city to music history globally. This group, ICH, is going to be another one of those rapidly associated with the musical legacy of Philadelphia…period! ICH's newest project is entitled "R.O.M.E." (Ride On My Enemies) and is a 15-track train ride of various stylings brought to life by this 8 member crew. All songs were written and produced by ICH…yup they do it ALL!!! We get to meet, via music, the personalities that make up this diverse group and they leave it all on the field for their fans and listeners…there is not even one "we gonna let that one slide" joint on the entire album. While you may not love every song, you will have to respect the work ethic and drive for excellence exhibited on this offering from the group…everybody stepped to the plate and smashed! The first single “She wants to Roll with a Hustler” which features Young Savage, Shorty Raw, and Cosmo from Team Retro – has gained national attention since its release, with the official video soon to follow. Overall rating: 4/5 stars because nobody is perfect!

 

  Standout Joints include: Track 7: "I Don't Care" Ft. AR AB -- When the opening instro came on, I sat straight up in my chair man…I was waiting for Teddy or Barry to drop out of the sky on us and give us something in that signature R&B Philly sound, the track produced by Matcy, is hot hot hot with some flute backgrounds and synth arrangements that are worthy of any of the biggs. The vocals where orchestrated so they played right along with the track and became part of the song's instrumentation. Message was plain and clear delivered in a grown man's way of speaking telling a story so true for many of us making our way through this maze of life right now. ICH's Dark Lo and Sport Sinner were the perfect match on this cut and AR AB added a certain energy that made the cast well rounded. Much respect for this one. 

 Track 10: "Make Da Block Cherp" Shorty Raw Ft. Image -- Here is another Matcy track that shows this producer knows his shit!!! I can see that Philly is gonna be riding on this cat with his signature sound…I'm gonna call him the "Battlecat" of Philly…yea trip with that one! Lyrically, Shorty Raw brought the truth to the table with an undeniable story and Image on the hook was perfect. When you listen to this joint and the collective talent, you JUST might visualize Curtis Mayfield smiling down at them…check this one out for sure!

Track 12: "Soldiers" Bossman, Shorty Ray, Sport, Young Savage -- Produced by Chris Dowling, this is an upbeat track and has a baseline that is going to bust out some window if played in the right system…please make sure you don't have a rattler ride when you play this, you'll destroy the sound of the track which is nice and clean, very straight forward. Deadly delivery of some massive lyrical missiles set this joint apart for me as a favorite because the message was tight but they DELIVERED as the title of the song and track demanded…yeah lace ya boots up to the top and ride out with this one for sure. 

 Track 11: "She Wants To Roll With A Hustler" Shorty Raw, Young Savage Ft. TeamRetro, produced by Reck Beats -- Ok if you don't know about Young Savage you will get up on your feet, young dude is an amazing talent as are all of the members of ICH but I watched him do a LIVE 20 freestyle on the Cosmic Kev Show and he brought that same energy and style on this record. I like the rest of America became of fan of ICH because of this song right here and its commercial success does not betray the street credibility of this crew. They tell it like it is and just twist it enough that folks won't be offended by them talking about some of our favorite female relatives…they don't disrespect females in any way on this joint but believe this…I am cleaning my arsenal because I have several daughters who are dating age…got my point?! 

In a nutshell, R.O.M.E. is going to be one of the top releases of the spring from an independent label or group, in my humble opinion, this offering by the group and DaSaint Entertainment is one that shows people still make great music, tell great stories and pull together as a team to make the dream work…hell, All they do is work! #Salute ICH

source:Jerry Doby