By Alex P80 Parks
Brooklyn emcee and Team Fame Gvng CEO, K.Burns brings us on yet another journey in 2018. This time around, Burnie teams up with UK producer NCL-TM to deliver Pyrex Vision. Watch the bubbling liquids on the stovetop as K.Burns brings us straight from the kitchen through all the spots.
K.Burns has had quite a year. Since dropping his Kilo Dreams EP with The Historian back in January, he’s dropped 7 tapes (6 solo and 1 collab) and guest appeared on a number of tracks and projects of his peers and contemporaries.
NCL-TM has had a prolific production year himself, working with many talented emcees and also dropping several beat tapes independently. The creative mastermind has even crafted some dope cover art for several albums. TM goes the low-fidelity route on this project, full of dusty samples and mostly light percussion, though he selects definitive loops that give the overall soundscape a feel all its own.
K.Burns bounces his flow over what sounds like a pungi (snake-charmer flute), subtle snare and booming bass on the opener, “Nitro.” Burnie coaxes his lyrics to slither on demand similar to that of an expert snake charmer.
“Way I was raised you buy that strap, fuck bodies on the gun.
The objective no gettin caught, Move like bodies on the gun.
When I squeeze it, nobody seen, everybody gotta run.
Shots, duck, couldn’t tell if it was a ladder or a drum.
Where I’m from we don’t look for handouts, nobody gettin none.
If you want it, you better go out marine and get some.”
Burnie is the type of emcee who initially could be overlooked as a style-over-substance type of emcee, though that would be selling his talent far too short. His voice control and passion in his vocals is such a strength that it often overshadows his lyrical ability upon a casual listen. But upon further analysis K.Burns delivers plenty of memorable bars, clever punchlines and double entendres to satisfy even the most critical fans of lyrical HipHop.
On “Pyrex Vision” over a muted hi-hat and melodic harpsichord loop, Burnie creeps his way into the kitchen to show you how he breaks it down and chefs it up.
He drops witty lines like :
“On my 99th Spliff, this a real Kush diet
Fiends geekin of the jink like they name Len Bias.”
“Paper Chase” feat Bub Rock shows both emcees floating over a somber yet hopeful jazz loop. Both emcees shown some depth in their lyrics here.
Burnie: “Big bro had a scheme,
No time for the digi scales, we gon triple the beams.
Pyrex with the vision, you know kilo the dreams.
Big bank take lil bank and ayything in between.
Gotta get to the cream, Vee parked outside..”
Bub: “Get it, got it, good,
Tryna get it till I got it good.
No talk, I slide like i should thru rival hoods.
I was 17 when I left, filled the duffle up.
Round trip takin 5-hour ride on the megabus.”
The track finishes with a gorgeous sample of a melancholy trumpet as it echoes trough the empty NY streets late at night.
On “Nancy Reagan” feat Estee Nack Nack and Burnie trade verses over a tense loop with dusty lo-fi drums. NCL-TM creates a perfectly anxious mood on this joint with the unsettling background sound resonating through the track. Estee Nack delivers his usual complex rhyme schemes and potent flow on this joint.
Burnie has really expanded his lyrical skills as well as his beat selection from his earlier pre-2018 work to Kilo Dreams, to this project. Pyrex Vision certainly displays a level of maturity and the sensibilities of an established emcee in the game, who understands where they really shine on specific beats, which guest spots fit perfectly, and what fans really want to hear in the current landscape of underground HipHop.
Uncle Burnie and NCL-TM make an excellent pairing on this project, combining minimalist production and straightforward Brooklyn raps. With features like Estee Nack and Bub Rock, Burnie chose some excellent assistance on this EP. K.Burns is wrapping up 2018 in a nice little bundle, straight from the Pyrex on the stove and into the ears of hip hop fans.
K.Burns is posting up, looking to continue serving heads straight from the kitchen right into 2019. This is definitely an enjoyable EP from an artist that continues to elevate his craft.
Available at:
Physicals available at:
Deeply Rooted HipHop 