Two of indie’s biggest voices in both lyric and design unite this season for an impeccably stylish and poetic hip hop album.
Blending style and substance with seamlessly intelligent bars and a vocal fluidity and dynamic that’s intoxicating, Big O and Cashus King deliver one of the biggest albums of the year, with the sensational Water to Wine.
From the deeply conscious to the calming and even comical, Precipitation and Cherry Cola grab attention with charm and complex poetic expressions that hold attention throughout. Barry Water lights things up beforehand, but with fourteen faultless tracks making up the colourful fabric and depth of Water to Wine, this project never misses a beat.
Award-winning producer and artist Big O refuses to lower the bar time and time again, and joining forces with the equal drive and vastly-streamed substance of Cashus King seems like a match made in heaven. The subject matter and album title make perfect sense, and the stories within, the sharp references, the powerful nuance of the bars, the back and forth, and the timeless beats and chord patterns – keys and dreamy flavours woven throughout – all makes this a gem of a modern listen.
Inspiring content that’s levels ahead of the vast majority of empty rap releases, Water to Wine promises anthemic analyses of contemporary living, dark poetry and nostalgia, complex and abstract ideas, big dreams and motivational realism, throughout the likes of the superb track Streams, blending metaphor and literalism perfectly, and within the more introspective spoken-word segments like Drownin’.
Inspiration is key, a sense of meaning and originality that’s fascinating, and deeply moving. The album wants you to spend time here, and it makes that an easy and rewarding process. Every track is loaded with sentiments and ideas, smart reflections, clever wordplay, passion and presence. These aren’t just adjectives for the sake of an article – these are truthful reactions to the focus and elegance of Water to Wine.
You need to press play to appreciate it – a perfect blend of lyrical complexity and additive rhythmic and melodic escapism. Big O and Cashus King get the chemistry just right, and Water to Wine is both graceful and gritty at the helm.
Find Big O on Instagram & X. Find Cashus King on Instagram & X.
