2017 has treated us well… in the sense of music :P.

One of our Hawaii Hip-Hop front-runners, Jim Hurdle, has come out with a new highly-anticipated debut album that joins the ranks of Hawaii’s most elite emcees. From recent bar-raising releases from Koins and Prie, the friendly competition is only getting better with Something’s Gotta Give.

I must say, after hearing Familiar Faces (Koins) I didn’t think I would hear such a well put-together, cohesive, banger-full, and incredibly produced project so soon. Jim has not only moved the bar a little higher, but came out with an album-titled single that should & hopefully make noise in the hip-hop industry.

Being a hip-hop head, I couldn’t be any more proud hearing such great music coming from our own Aloha State. This album is a listen from start to finish. Everything flows so nicely throughout, especially with the assistance from: Klarke, Prie, .rar, cnrboy, Koins, forksbeats, J-Shiu, Leelu, Osna, Dropdead Grace and Jerm. I felt like each individual track with each collaboration told a different story, yet still stayed cohesively in the realm of “Something’s Gotta Give.”

I was fortunate enough to witness this greatness live at the album release party (live footage coming soon). This only helped push my enjoyment of the album further. I gotta say… Jim & most of the company definitely have a great stage presence.

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Something’s Gotta Give: 5/5 Mics

(There were a few tracks I didn’t like as much, but for the most part it was a straight-through listen, no skips. Which I interpret into a damn good album!)

You know I gotta reference my personal favorites:

1. 2 Push 4 Higher Standards (Prior release, but glad he put this banger on his album. Still my overall favorite cut of his.)

2. Something’s Gotta Give (Prod. T$RK) (Godly production, thanks to The Super Robot King)

3. I Remember When (Just nostalgic storytelling at it’s finest)

4. Intro / The Pedestal / All We Know (Couldn’t decide between the three, all dope tracks)

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Listen to the tracks here:

Overall, I am very happy with this album and majority of my personal favorites were his own solo tracks. This is impressive because he’s one of the few (in Hawaii) that can rap and produce his own beats and he excels at it too. I liked the direction he went and I felt he improved and matured since his last full-length release, Southern Aloha. Thank you, Jim.

I’m excited to hear what is up next for Hawaii and I believe we are only set for a higher elevation. With these superb releases as of late, let us hope that the sonic bridge between Hawaii and the world will be established. Upper echelon bound.

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[2017]