As one of the most underrated producers today, !llmind continues to grow and impress listeners with his versatile style. He has the ability to create stunning audio landscapes using various sounds, elements and/or samples. You would think that a producer like this would have released some type of instrumental album by now but that isn’t the case. This is !llmind’s first official instrumental album release and once I heard about it, I was excited to get a listen.

Ahead Of The Game

Leave it to !llmind to not just throw some beats on a CD, put a price on it and ship it like some producers. He thought this album through. So out of his love for the game and for producing he thought of the idea to not only showcase his talents but offer audio stems to up and coming producers to further dissect the creation of the featured productions on this album.

Blue Paint

“The purpose of the album is to showcase the love that I have for unique and innovative ways to put together beats. There are different techniques I’ve learned throughout the years, and I’m hoping production fans take notice! I know my fellow producers will have fun with the stems.” -!llmind

Chop It Up

The actual production is something to take notice to. First notice was that, he used no real sample loops, but various sounds and elements from keyboards, drum machines etc. The talent he has to develop beats like these are undeniable. As I got deeper into the album, I hear more and more sounds where I ask myself, “how in the hell did he get a sound like that?!”. My overall feel of the beats are more of a Dr.Dre/G-Unit beat feel. That’s not a bad feeling. I only had a small number of beats I wasn’t feeling. The scary thing about all of this is that this is only one side of !llmind’s production game.

New Start

I really enjoyed this album thoroughly and adding the audio stems was very generous especially when producers can be secretive about their techniques. I look forward to hopefully hearing more instrumental albums from !llmind. Cop this.

Overall Rating: 8/10