It’s tough to look at this as an MF Doom & Bishop Nehru collaboration when it seems more like a mediocre Bishop Nehru album that MF Doom worked his magic on. Nehru has a decent flow and good lyrical control, but at only age 18, he’s young and has a lot of learning to do still before he can truly captivate a listening audience. Working with MF Doom and opening for Wu-Tang on tour last year, he’s definitely in a great position to do so with all his new connections.
The 2nd issue is playback value. I’m not one to argue that every song needs a hook (because it doesn’t), but if you’re going to have a hook, it better be worth it. Take “Great Things” for example. While I think sing-speaking like early Jay-Z, Das Racist, or Kanye West on “Last Call”can work really well, it just seems weak and forced a bit on this record.
The thing about working with MF Doom, is that he’s gonna show you up if you let him rap, because you just can’t be better than MF Doom on an MF Doom beat. If this album says anything, it’s that Nehru has a potentially large and bright future ahead of him, and this is a pretty good way to set it off. It might not have brought the wow factor, but he’s a name people have heard of now.