News 6 March 2016
  views
Author: Bernie Mac

Why you should listen to Yung Reeks’ ‘Ambiton 2’

6 March 2016
  views
Share
Share

Self belief is a very powerful thing. It can make you accomplish anything you put your mind to, no excuses or exceptions. The harder you work, the more rewards you reap from it. Fact. To have the will to carry it out and not put any mental blocks between yourself and your goals plays a huge part in that.

Even in the darkest hour of solitude and self doubt, one will always prevail into the light with that same said self belief. Prison can take the motivation, suffocate the mind in the hours the boredom brings, basically a mental prison within a real prison. Some will use that as motivation and take the time to develop an idea into a plan and a plan into reality.

Yung Reeks is no stranger to this hard work and dedication needed to stamp your authority on the game. Since his release from prison, he had a stellar end to 2014 and completely trampled all over 2015 dropping four mixtapes and a barrage of visuals to go alongside them.

Remember THAT Westwood crib session? How about “September’s Round The Corner”, “Ambition”, “Autopilot”, and the GRM exclusive “Fulltimer“? Let’s not forget that “MAAD” link up with OVO’s Mike Zombie in the middle of all of that, amongst other very interesting releases. HELLA work and progress. As always the motto #AWDIP (All We Do Is Progress) is in full voice as Yung Reeks has just dropped his fifth mixtape.

‘Ambition 2’ is yet another reminder of that hard work and relentless pursuit to getting what you put yourself out to achieve. From the get go, in true Yungs Reeks fashion, the intro is another inspirational and motivational speech which really translates this mentality he has of never giving up. The calm way in which he opens up in “Hunger Pt 2” on a  mellow beat, then switches up as the beat changes mid tune into an eery but glorious symphony of violins and aggressive bass, shows his eclecticness that we already know about straight away.

As the tape progresses, the more you can hear the development in Yung Reeks’s music and craft. From pure street bangers like “Pray 4 It”, “Panda” (which features a very sick verse from Tuggzy) and “Tuesday Sapphire”, you have to sit up and pay attention to the raw hunger honed and crafted into musical excellence with an edge. The Croydon edge!

Now, take those elements and mix them up with inspirational tracks such as “#AWDIP Again”, “Gold”, and the very emotional and reminiscent “7 Years Old”, where Reeks talks about family and the memories that motivate him to strive for success as well as fatherhood. “Now I’m about to be a parent, bout to have a couple twins now, just thinking like a grown up, I’m just counting all these wins now”, he spits over a Notes beat (the way he flips the sample of Lukas Graham’s “7 Years Old” is special).

It wouldn’t be a Yung Reeks project without a feature from another FullTimerz member, and when Bully jumps on “Digital Dash” with him, it’s an absolute shutdown. The energies created by the duo when they go back to back are, as always, at a crazy level.

It also wouldn’t be a Yung Reeks project without the participation of Dukus, whose productions are present all over this 18 track mixtape. One of the most stand out tracks produced by Dukus is the very popular “#Winning”, featuring the prolific American battle rapper Hollow Da Don, which we had the chance to hear when it dropped in December of last year. The tape is peppered with other gems but I don’t want to spoil too many more surprises for you guys until you listen to it yourselves.

As ever, Yung Reeks drops a solid project with a great mix of different elements that make him a complete rapper, who is always dropping better material than his previous. The progression is real and it’s refreshing to see an artist with such an impressive work rate in a day and age where society breeds younger minds to be complacent, when they have the potential to go above and beyond. That’s exactly what Reeks does- goes above and beyond the goals he sets himself. It’s no surprise to see all this hard work paying off with the aptly named “Work the Hardest” making it onto the BBC 1Xtra playlist (believe me when I say there’s many more to come).

The game has been paying attention to Yung Reeks for a hot minute now, but with his relentless work rate and talent it’s inevitable that he will surpass that and take into the next level in 2016 and beyond. It’s been an amazing journey so far since that release date from the cells and as he reflects on outro track “Sail Out”; “When I was in the cell they used to tell me I was dreaming, I’m just tryna fix the puzzle, I’m just tryna get the pieces, I’m always going hard I could never see me leaving…”, it’s good news for the scene to have an artist like him who isn’t going anywhere. Ambition is a contagious thing and the more you listen to ‘Ambition 2’ the more it seeps into you how inspirational that can be for a whole generation.