Shaw Calhoune, fresh out of Silver Springs, Maryland, has been steadily gaining some rep as one of modern hip-hop’s best storytellers— and on his latest album, “Carry Out On Shaw”, he pulls out all the stops, bringing rhymes that would make mama proud, as they say— keep reading for my thoughts!
Come the opener, “Open For Business”, and we’re put into a conversation that remains entertaining from start to finish, a skit-like format, I’ll say, executed to perfection, reminding me of the skits on the boom-bap albums of the 90s that we’d initially skip out on, but would then later realise are some of the most entertaining and hilarious parts of these albums. A wiser man now, I listened— and was rewarded instantly. The skit ensues, and the second part of the album is this flowy, swingy, refreshingly old-school hip-hop sound with all the bells and whistles, with what I can say are positively groovy rhymes coming from Shaw.
The interplay of rhymed, rapped sequences with free-flowing adlibs really push the envelope of how well a story can be told on hip-hop, and keeps it light, engaging, and entertaining; this is a theme that continues throughout the album, especially on tracks like “No Voicemail”, with the female adlibs in the background, this time incorporating some turntable work courtesy of DJ Skruff; and the turntabling here is tasteful, charismatic, and manages to preserve the mildly playful nature of the production throughout.
“Two Hours” brings the golden era of hip-hop back with its bold, confident pianos and brasses laid below the vocals, a nice interlude between the tracks, and the track right next up, “Food Poisoning”, takes on a more relaxed energy on the boom-bapping, instead focusing on the sampling work and letting Shaw shine through with his vocals; and shine through, he does, the track overall being expertly well-executed.
The production of “Carry Out On Shaw” is par excellence, easy; it has a personality of its own and steers far clear of sounding filler or generic at every turn. The sampling work and the turntabling work play excellently well into the sound design as we’re left grooving and trying to memorize every part of every song; and if that is not a hallmark of great production, I know not what is.
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This is also all wrapped up quite nicely with a warm, potent master that focuses on warmth and brings in just the right amount of old-school flair while keeping the sound analytical and precise enough for a 2024 release. The dynamics keep up rather well, with the intent clear from the very beginning— this is a vocals-first album, a storytelling-first album; and that is achieved very well on “Carry Out On Shaw”.
In conclusion, “Carry Out On Shaw”— an unequivocal pleasure to listen to, and an effortless showcase of the wonders of hip-hop. Check out the album here!
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