“Know the difference the coaching is so specific / From the thorns, a rose most prolific / And now I’m in the game droppin’ anvils / and he’ll bring ya campaign to a standstill.”
~Jon Belz (On Fire)
I got a chance to catch up with Jon Belz and DaiN the other night at the XRAY.FM studios during a session of Welcome To The Neighborhood with DJ Klyph. The rabidly productive emcee and the famously choosy producer showed out in the studio, and I can’t lie… Despite Jon’s recent barrage of releases, I got really excited for the drop of their long-teased Ghost Dog EP.
Well worth the wait, the 11-track project impresses easily, sparing no bars over head-yanking production from the New Orleans standout. I was hoping to hear some bars from DaiN, but he left the rapping to Belz for now, and the Rose City kid handles business.
Broken up into three stanzas, Ghost Dog is a well-assembled combination of bouncy dance tracks, battle-ready bangers and chill vibes spaced out with cinematic “Lessons” and instrumental interludes and comes off as a 20 minute lesson in how to make a rap EP. With no special features or guest production, the EP is strong and stands out creatively. One has to wonder if this will serve as a base for further collaborations. Maybe we’re about to see the return of DaiN?
Couldn’t pick a favorite track on this one, but 2nd verse of My Way had me locked in and On Fire will inspire fellow MCs to write. The lead single, Better Knot, still goes tough, and the production on the finale, We Got Us, is flawless. Check it out for yourself. And let us know what you think!