The Night Took Us in Like Family

L'Orange & Jae did their thing.

Holy hell is this album dope. L'Orange's production has never sounded better & Jeremiah Jae perfectly compliments them with a loose and laid back that will leave you with a sore neck. This album is the audio equivalent of a 40's detective smoking a cigarette in a dark alley wearing a trench coat while there's a downpour. If Cuban Linx perfected mafioso rap, "The Night Took Us In Like Family" has perfected Film-noir rap. Another solid addition to the Mello fam.

Hell yeah man, this album is sick!

L'Orange has done it again!

I stepped into the diner a little after two in the morning. I didn't actually know the name of the joint - the sign's light had long since dimmed and I'd never brought my patronage in the daylight. It didn't matter though. This was the only diner that still let me finish a pack of Parliaments before and after my chicken dinner was served, and the coffee bar still pulled shots until three. Two espressos, dropped into hot water with an ice cube to keep the oily crema from burning. They knew I hated that the water went into the mug first, but they knew I'd keep coming back, night after night. An old man, merely a skeletal visage of his younger self, rocked front and back in his chair in my left peripheral. He sat next to the vinyl jukebox raving about the chicken almost as frequently as I sat in my corner booth, smoking away the desire to eat mine. Tonight, he had chosen a new record for us, and his nodding frame was more active than usual. There's something about a man and his turntable that silhouettes itself the same way in a smoky room that a monster might be seen in a dream. It's not the fear that keeps us here, but the naturalism. The narrative moves us through New York City, Chicago, Detroit. I remember where I came from, as the boom-bap of the crackling drums create a conduit for my story- all of our stories. When we leave this diner, who follows us? Who calls us home? The swirling melodies clinked back and forth in my head like the disappearing cube in my coffee. Such nostalgia doesn't belong in a man as young as I. Guess the bag of bones tossing the discs onto the lathe and rocking himself silly needed to offload some of his drowned feelings. By the end of side B, my plate was clean, and my coffee finished. I had two cigarettes left in my fresh pack, for which I was glad. I'd need them as I drove off to do tonight's job. I left twelve dollars on the table, along with whatever change was in my pocket. Just over a twenty percent tip, I calculated, as I made my way towards the door. I slipped the man by the jukebox a crisp twenty as I walked past him. See you tomorrow, he said.

I’ve been waiting for this album ever since I saw the video for “Ice Obsidian.” It dark, moody and extremely hot. They have great chemistry

I’m so stoked for this album, I’m rating this based on pure excitement. L’Orange is one of my favorite up-and-coming producers right now and I’m lookin forward to hearing more from Jeremiah Jae. The singles I’ve heard are incredible, my favorite bein Ice Obsidian (that video is hot too, dope visuals). I’m so ready to hear more from Jae cause til then I can only imagine what happens when you get two highly conceptual artists of this caliber, with their kind of vision, on the same project…

I've been stoked for the next L'Orange collaboration since hearing City Under The City. This record delivers exactly what you'd expect out of Jeremiah Jae and L'Orange working together: sinister beats, a twisted narrative, and great verses. The very first track weaves a soundscape that drops you down in a back alleyway, committing the crime and getting to know the anti-hero. A small handfull of carefully picked features offer us insight to a few other devious characters working with (or against) Jae's operation. The Night Took Us In Like Family is a MUST HAVE for any modern hip-hop head, and an instant classic in my book.