Curren$y - Pilot Talk 3 (Album Review)

Any time Curren$y releases one of his Pilot Talk projects it seems like a little bigger of a deal than some of his other projects. As good as Curren$y has been, and he's had an insane amount of quality output over the years in the form of albums and mixtapes, since he made his debut in the hip hop world it's releases like Pilot Talk III that hold the importance.

I won't lie. I think I had been on a bit of Curren$y overload from the amount of sheer material the guy has released. I hadn't listened to much Curren$y for a while until about a month or so before Pilot Talk III was announced. Coincidentally I had been listening to the first two Pilot Talk releases and also This Ain't A Mixtape. Pilot Talk I & II are the epitome of what most rappers hope to achieve. They are basically good albums that hold some good longevity and resonate with listeners. They are consistent, well thought out projects with plentiful amounts of good songs. They both showcase Curren$y at his finest. In that respect I think Pilot Talk III continues the tradition. For anyone who has started to move on to the newer crop of buzz rappers or has been fatigued with Curren$y I think this album will instantly remind you of why Curren$y gained all the hype he has.

It's a great follow up to Pilot Talk II. I wondered if it would be since the first two Pilot Talk albums came out in 2010 and this third part is coming five years later. I was really hoping I'd get an album that added to the quality of the Pilot Talk name and didn't just cash in on it. I went in hoping that quality would be there and after a couple listens I was able to relax a little and was glad that the album lived up to the hype for the most part. I'm really liking the vibe and the flow of this album. It's a very smooth sounding and flowing album. It definitely sounds like a good driving album or a nice evening or night time album. Ski Beatz returned and helped produce the album. He worked on the first two Pilot Talk albums. His presence helps unify the sound a lot. David Barnett also returned to do the album artwork (he did the artwork for the first two Pilot Talk albums). The cover image really helps create that unifying visual presence with the first two albums.

Curren$y's rhyming flow on this album is similar to his flow on his various other projects for the most part. That may be one of the biggest causes of "Curren$y fatigue". Some of it can start blending and sounding a little too much the same due to his rapping style. However, what helps this album is the quality he brings to his lyrical game and the beat choices. The construction of the album, from a production and lyrical standpoint, is just on it's A game throughout the entire release in so many ways. I think this album has me going back to it more and appreciating it as a whole more than any of his projects over the last couple of years.

While not everything Curren$y has done has been gold and some of his projects have been hit or miss especially in the last couple of years, I think Pilot Talk III is an album that should excite old fans and really entice new listeners to not only become fans but to go back through his massive discography on a hunt for the gems. It's not his best album, but it's a definite standout in his discography. I'm digging this one and can definitely see potential for it to be one of the better rap albums of the first half of 2015.

Standout songs from the album: "Pot Jar (feat. Jadakiss)" & "Cargo Planes"