Norman BA$E, Frederick Boom, SpaceGoonz, Sweet Limb, Vintage Jay [control room]

“You only get one shot/ I guess I got nine lives,” Norman BA$E concludes on “Pull Up,” the first track on his 2023 LP 2425. That explains the rapper’s unhurried flow. Born Jahmale Johnson, the MC channels the Nineties greats of his native New York throughout the melodic project, a collab with Bronx producer !YADNUS. Boom bap rhythms and twinkling keys soundtrack BA$E’s gangsta diaries, which unfurl, as a 2024 single signals, in “Slow Motion.” He knows he has your attention. This “BA$E and Friends” gig also features Frederick Boom, SpaceGoonz, Southside Hippie, Sweet Limb, Vintage Jay, and TMC. – Carys Anderson