Saipher Soze Returns With “Velvet Hammer”

This is Toronto emcee Saipher Soze’s fourth full-length album. When he first started out, he was a member of the Brown Bag Money collective. Ten months later, in 2017, he went solo with Godbody, and then again with Kanibull Rising.

He last appeared in the fall of 2020, when he released the excellent Eat What You Kill, which was produced by Futurewave & Finn. Now he’s back to let Sibbs Roc handle the mixing duties for Velvet Hammer.

As Soze confesses that he doesn’t blame anyone for dreading his bars and having a lot, the boom bap instrumental from “Lion Paw” sets the scene, while “Rebelz” incorporates some synthesizers and talks about being the last ones to do it.

The piano-driven “Pray for Me,” which features Pro Dillinger, reminds listeners that their skin is tougher than leather just before “Princeton 10,” which has a more jazzy feel to it and discusses how the objective is to never fold, is played.

Daniel Son enters the scene while “Uptown Swing” is still in jazz territory to talk about moving cautiously and leaving them with nothing before “Kings Gambit” solemnly returns to boom bap and warns those who cross him won’t survive. However, “Fly Guys” with Falcon Outlaw has a more polished groove to it and talks about how fly both of them are. “Overkill” dives into more atmospheric territory by comparing himself to a dog on a leash being let go.

With Philly Regs and Richie416, the song “Only Champions” is a guitar/boom bap mashup that discusses not seeing both ways when shade is hurled. The concluding tune, “Young Mowgli,” has a more orchestral vibe and discusses being raised by the pack. However, “Speed Racer” featuring Snackz closes the album with one final jazz rap track and both MCs pursuing the green.

It was only a matter of time before these two got together, and Saipher’s debut album in two years marks the BBM member’s impressive comeback. Lyrically, he sounds revitalized as he guides you through his struggles, and Sibbs Roc’s jazzy yet boom bap production is among the best he’s created so far. I wouldn’t even be upset if Soze doesn’t drop for another two years.