by Dan O

Conductor has the sonic profile of a hardheaded individual.

Stik Figa warned me. He said the more people on the internet complain about that producer tag, the more he will hit it. While that has played out exactly, let it be an indicator of who you are dealing with. Conductor has the sonic profile of a hardheaded individual. The track is never overloaded but the tempo is always from another planet. I’m listening to Blow 4 Blow from Rome Streetz new album Kiss The Ring and you can feel the simplicity slinking, twisting around Benny The Butcher as he lays his guest verse. Think about that track 3,4,5 run on Pray For Haiti where the off tempo of Conductor perfectly synced up with the darkest timelines Mos Def (Mach-Hommy) to change 2021 and the entire course of Griselda Records. Conductor songs move while not being bangers, groove without being dance music. I totally understand people who don’t like the music and think Conductor is overrated…but the rest of us are having so much more fun.

1. Denzel Curry-Scared of nothing the Floridian dropped one of his very best albums this year in Melt My Eyez, See Your Future. Curry can spit over Robert Glasper, Thundercat, or DJ Dahi production. Songs like Walkin’ he sounds like he could fit next to Joey Bad@$$ but if you recall his 2018 album TA1300 you know that Denzel can go full Waka Flocka (see SUMO| ZUMO). How would Conductor and Denzel work chemistry-wise? The answer is in Denzel and Kenny Beats album UNLOCKED from 2020. Kenny is a good comp for Conductor because both producers take simple sounds and twist them enough to be unconventional while maintaining digestibility. An album they make together is odds on favorite in any race for ‘best gym album’ of that year.

2. Koncept JackSon-Koncept is the hidden gem version of Stove God Cook$. A tongue twister with a filthy mind to match, just listen to him rip into Terrycloth on his EP Good Product w/ Bane Capital. The flow is crackling electricity with the personality to match. The Mutant Academy spitter got into a lot of ears with his 2021 project JET MagaZINE ’21 Reissue produced by Ohbliv. What would happen if Koncept and Conductor linked? At best, an album with lime green style that the whole world rocks to feel cool. At worst, a shockingly undervalued diamond not enough people talk about (like the Joyland album Conductor and Stik Figa did together).

3. Akeem Eshu-Akeem is butter. Listen to Trip2ATL off 2021’s album Betrayal & Liberation 2. The women are beautiful, the party gets shot up but the flute and his flow remain calming. Eshu’s flow is so assured that when the beat is smooth like that you can miss crazy bars like “Smoke souls like nicotine. Murder ain’t a thing when you hate everything. Reading Bell Hooks Self-Esteem…(Enlightenment)” Conductor would really enjoy throwing his best off speed pitch and watching Akeem catch it with the edge of the bat somehow. Pure talent wise Eshu is very high ranking and most people should be trying to get in touch now. Todays price v. yesterdays price and all that.

4. Kipp Stone-A pure assassin who is out to terminate every smooth second given to him. Listen to 1833 off his new Room 109 project on Closed Sessions. The Cleveland MC is great with hooks, lines up the best guests and did I mention he fully produced Room 109? Conductor handling the production would allow Kipp to hone in even tighter on the remaining craft details and reach an undeniable level of expertise to put him in all the big conversations.

5. Lungs/Lonesword-Think of Lungs like a musical thrill seeker. Someone who thrives on producing and rapping over dissonant sounds, clips from old science fiction movies. He raps at a speed that causes the internet to keep circulating performance videos as if they were sex tapes. These two would have to meet in the middle. Conductor is an oddball but not a sonic stuntman unafraid of the hospital. Conductor could stand to push himself more into the niche of Lungs but selfishly, I want Conductor to help the world know Lungs/Lonesword on a broader level. I want the upper echelon of this music to embrace left field fully.