[Mixtape Review] Red Café – “Hell’s Kitchen”
- Written By: K1ng Eljay
- Eljay’s Favorites
- “Fly Together” (feat. Trey Songz, Wale, and J. Cole)
- “Unf**kwitable” (with Fabolous)
- “Keep Winning” (feat. Ray Lavender)
Red Café’s one of the questionable signatures that Diddy’s inked to his Bad Boy label, but could also possibly possess the weakest argument as well. Machine Gun Kelly has a cult-like following, and French Montana has been cranking out music with the reckless abandon of Juelz Santana in his heyday. Red Café, however? He’s been working as well, but for some reason his music doesn’t exactly captivate the majority of Hip-Hop like his labelmates. Red Café’s got the ability to shift some of that scrutiny; his latest release Hell’s Kitchen should’ve been a triumphant announcement of his abilities, but instead we’re treated to Café essentially feeding us more of the music that put us on the fence with his music to begin with.
That is in no way, shape, or form a slight to Red Café’s talent or consistent approach in his music. He’s found a lane for his style and refuses to be budged from his lane. The issue is that it only really suits people that were already fans of his music. Nothing done on Hell’s Kitchen that redefines his style or takes extra chances to win more fans. Instead, what you can expect is the same consistent music from Café that made you interested or disinterested in him to begin with.
For me, I was on the fence before listening to Hell’s Kitchen, and now I’m still on the fence. It’s a decent outing, but in the future I’m going to need to see Red Café do a little bit more in order to feel validated about recommending his music to others. For now, check Hell’s Kitchen… you might like it. Or not.
Eljay’s Rating
2.5 out of 5
