Esham – Tongues (2001)

January 13, 2024

Over the course of albums from Boomin’ all the way to Mail Dominance you can trace a slow but deliberate change in Esham’s music. Each album along the way is another iteration of what could be considered a classic Esham sound, but each era had its own distinct vibe and production. Tongues is a mixed bag in comparison, both in terms of quality as well as regards to production and musical structure. Not only do the songs only hit about 50% of the time, but the ride varies wildly from marveling at clever rhymes to cringing harder than we have at any point in running through Esham’s discography thus far. Also, this album is long as fuck, which doesn’t help.

All in all, the production quality is fantastic and the sound is crystal clear, so I can’t fault it for that. Oh, and some of the guest spots are pretty cool too.