REVIEW: OneShotOnce x DRIVEBY – 6WD

 
 

 
 
 

OneShotOnce has a lot to say. With fellow New Jersey artist DRIVEBY at his side, the duo just released a new project titled 6WD. Simply stated – this is an energetic ride of hip hop performances. OneShotOnce’s raw streams of consciousness and DRIVEBY’s hypnotic loops are consistently gratifying to the ear throughout the release’s duration.

 
 
 

 
 

Production deserves to be discussed foremost. There is a tangible eeriness on this record, a certain rawness in the beats. Really do feel like an apocalypse. DRIVEBY’s production sets scenes of desolate wastelands covered in SUV trackmarks and exotic eighths packaging. Sometimes the vibe feels menacing – take ‘Gravel Prescription’ or ‘Runs w/ Ice’ – and at other times more liberating. The strings on ‘Chariot Rims’ are some of my favorite moments on here, for instance. Sounds like the stresses of the past are behind us on that track.

 

OneShotOnce spits no shortage of colorful sentences on his end. He is a fitting orator for DRIVEBY’s barren score, confidently and sharply dictating stories of braggadocio and survival. Each joint is punchline-packed…below are just a few standouts:

 

“Mafuckas frontin’ like you Escobar, but you more like Fredro Starr playing a guy that works at a rent-a-car”

 

“Even if the road is rocky Balboa better bow down like Dow Jones, type of guy that’ll never frown like Al Capone”

 

“I know I ain’t popular but I pop up like the property owner, the young Papi, I apologize for my pot odor, I apologize for the Patagonia”

 

An entertainingly dense assortment of rhymes and recollections.

 

Finally, the features also feel extremely natural on 6WD. Fatboi Sharif and OSO styles’ have already proven to mesh well before, and this collab provides the same result. Lungs barrages the listener with sickness and wit on his guest spot too, complimenting OSO like a distant cousin.

 

6WD is hustle music for those with an appreciation for the experimental. Although quite uncertain, the open road in front of OSO and DRIVEBY bears much opportunity. Even in an unforgiving wasteland, we can expect these two to ride forward in a plume of exhaust and herb smoke.

 

“Lamborghini Urus, in between Universes, you in the Uber cursin, this ain’t a movie from Universal, to see me you gotta buy a unit first”

 

Props to steel tipped dove on the mixing and engineering. Shoutout Roper Williams, Benji Socrate$, and Saint James also on the co-production. Courtesy of Fused Arrow Records.

 
 
 

Fav tracks: ‘Deku,’ ‘Chariot Wings,’ ‘Runs w/ Ice,’ ‘Gravel Prescription,’ ‘Crying Money Award’

 
 
 

image via DRIVEBY, OneShotOnce & CHOPTHEHEAD

 
 
 
 

– Benny P