Big Shoes is a super-duo from Detroit, Michigan consisting of House Shoes on the boards & Big Tone on the mic. The 2 have made names for each other over the years whether that be House Shoes’ Let It Go or Tone’s The Drought & The Art of Ink. However after knowing each other for their whole lives, it was only right for them to team up & release their self-titled debut together.

The album opens with “Autobiography”, where Tone reflects on his career up until this point over a synth-heavy instrumental. The next song “High Velocity” talks about living life fast over a J Dilla-inspired beat while the track “From My Mouth to God’s Ears” gets conscious over a laidback boom bap beat. The song “King Shit” with Denmark Vessey & MosEL sees the 3 talking about how they do it over a prominent woodwind sees the 3 while the track “Exodus (Fly Away)” gets ambitious over a soulful beat. The song “No Guest List” with Quelle Chris is an ode to those down for the cause over a spacious beat while the track “Homage” pays tribute to the OGs over a luscious beat.

The song “8th Day” with Ta’Raach & 87 sees the 3 getting thankful over a menacing boom bap beat while the track “Most of Us” continues to get conscious over a punchy beat with some skittering synthesizers. The song “Haze” is a soothing weed anthem while the penultimate track “Beautiful Mind” with Blu sees the 2 talking about their blessings in the game over a victorious beat. The album ends with “True Story”, where Tone talks about how this album came together over a soulful beat.

This was just as fantastic as I expected. House Shoes’ production is some of his best yet & the stories that Big Tone tells are very touching. If you wanna hear 2 underrated legends from Detroit teaming up to tell an emotional story together, then PLEASE give this a listen.

Score: 8/10

Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com