About halfway through his new album Project X, there’s a moment on the “Dummy” intro where the reliably hard Memphis rap great Key Glock chants the famous intro drop from Tay Keith, the Memphis rap producer who was found dead yesterday. Tay Keith’s passing is a sudden shock, and “Dummy” is the first time since his death that I got ambushed by a new Tay Keith beat that I didn’t see coming. I’m sure that’ll happen a lot of times in the months ahead. It shouldn’t have caught me off-guard, but it made his passing hit that much harder. Tay Keith was good. “Dummy” is a good song.
You can make a case that Key Glock is the single most consistent rapper working right now, at least outside the realm of the arty underground. Glock was an ascendant force before the 2021 murder of his cousin and frequent collaborator Young Dolph. Rather than disappearing after Dolph’s death, the way most of us probably would’ve done in his position, Glock has become a hard-working, reliable institution in the world of charisma-centric Southern street-rap.
Key Glock has put out four albums in the past five years, and you know what you’re getting with all of them. Glock casually raps his ass off, and he’s got a great ear for hard, clean, straightforward Southern beats; it’s one of the reasons he’s such a good match for Tay Keith’s production. Glock doesn’t mess around with the strange new sounds coming out of rap’s internet underground, but his drawling shit-talk never feels like a throwback. I could listen to him all day. Last year, Glock released his Glockaveli album and cracked the Hot 100 with his song “She Ready.” Today, Glock follows that album with Project X, another strong entry in a strong catalog.
There are no guests on Project X; it’s just Key Glock doing his thing for a solid 45 minutes. On this one, Key Glock plays around with different historic versions of Southern rap like Miami bass and Houston screw. But he always sounds like himself, and he always sounds great. It’s easy to underrate an artist like Glock, someone who just makes consistently great music in a specific lane without drawing attention to himself. But it’s a true pleasure to hear someone who’s just always in the pocket, never stumbling. As recent events have proven, you can’t count on this kind of run continuing forever. Appreciate someone like Key Glock while he’s here. Stream Project X below.
Project X is out now on Paper Route Enterprises/Republic/UMG.
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