Tall Kyle, our nonconformist trailblazer for mystic rap, has just released Cigarettes, an entire 14-records album that keeps the chronological basis of a mixtape but boasts a commercial tone in its production. Each song off Cigarettes presents a complex, thorough, consolidated story on its own. Solms Apartment, for example, recounts the artist’s rent situation with so much imagery that you start smelling the empty beer cans and seeing the roaches around. Whereas Pitch Black makes one hell of a statement, “I don’t do drugs/ I am drugs.” The World Loved Pac mentions Led Zeppelin, The Lox, and Tall Kyle’s own father. The sharp consumer will deeply appreciate such a robust acoustic and lyrical experience.
1. 40 Grams
This is a most interesting introductory record as 40 Grams keeps the sonic veil of a throwback lo-fi record but as you move along, you discover that is just an appearance and not the actual essence: plenty of supporting, loud back vocals, sharp high-pitched synths, stringent tight-sounding drums in a large room, abundantly filled instrumental. Nothing is left to chance when it comes to 40 Grams. It is a neatly, fastidiously produced art of work to resemble the golden age of new school rap.
Tall Kyle takes on a mythical status due to his thickly coated lyrics. “Think I saw the devil in a puddle of some Robitussin,” “think I saw Satan in reflections of the holy water/ I’m in love with Lucy but the ayahuasca hold me longer,” “I got shorty naked then I ate it cuz she told me to/ Treat me like legend down in Texas move like DJ Screw”, “I won’t ever switch up on my partners put that on my momma/ Brodie’s rolling dice let’s get Tibetan like the Dali Lama.” It’s a reasonably challenging task to grasp the ramifications of Tall Kyle’s message. He touches on so many popular and underground references that one has to have a Google tab opened in the background to research all the terminology he’s using.
Tall Kyle’s flow stays consistent while rising eerily in the dark vibes he’s so proficient at using in his artistic favor. The album’s name might be Cigarettes, but 40 Grams is far from its literal meaning. This song gives an ample preview of what to expect further down the tracklist holding a sort of grand lyrical reunion of Tall Kyle’s favorite topics: shrooms and substances, ayahuasca, his villain alter-ego, his strenuous past, pessimism in his world view while trusting himself more than anyone.
Song Credits: Antonio Fuentes (ASF) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
2. Solms Apartment
The initial piano sequencing is dark in mood and rich in tonality. The rising FX sound in the background amplifies the mysterious atmosphere thus building the anticipation for the artist’s arrival. Then most unexpectedly, the monster-like voice of Pro Zay throws quite a few F-bombs around and has you stupidly staring in disbelief. We weren’t ready.
“I sit alone in this old Solms apartment/ Wishin’ that I had lil weed I would spark it/ Empty beers cans and roaches in my carpet/ Everyone I know going through the same hardship” – goes the unquestionably relatable hook. Whoever survived 2020 will feel this.
Tall Kyle then follows on the first verse in which he consistently elevates the ominous, brooding feeling through the use of peculiarly blunt bars: “Asked her on a date and she declined like my card did/ Said I was retarded/ And my music garbage.” Tall Kyle acknowledges his real-life rejections with no shame or pretense. We know his listeners will love him exactly for THIS. It is almost the norm in the rap market to fake it ’til you make it. But as we mentioned, Tall Kyle forever goes against the pre-established industry ideas and lays it as it is, “I hit a lick to pay rent/ I ain’t have a safe since/ Dirty money always leaves fast if it came quick.”
Solms Apartment is not just a hint of artistry, it is a blunt, fat statement of Tall Kyle’s fearlessness of taking risks by pairing his somber raps with the barking voice of Pro Zay and the higher-pitched tenor voice of DdotElles. The latter, as a matter of fact, plunges with plenty of sarcasm into racial matters, “Murphy’s law I’m a quick study/ White people tell me you should smile more chum you’re just so f*ckin bubbly.”
Song Credits: Antonio Fuentes (ASF) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle), Zach Randal (Pro Zay), Demetrius Bishop (DdottElles) – Rap Artists, Songwriters; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
3. The Jerk
Aaaay, some R&B undertones from the get-go. This is fun and bulky at the same time. Tall Kyle proceeds to sing after the curt cinematic dialogue in the beginning: “She say she wanna leave and I don’t give a sh*t/ I don’t even know the reason /She say she wanna leave and I don’t even trip/ I guess she change with the seasons.” The captivating commercial touch renders The Jerk a considerably easier-to-digest song. The crisp, clear, minimalistic acoustic style is on par with 2021 trends and market affinity. Props to Jsun The Prophesor who’s acted as both the recording and sound engineer on Cigarettes.
And just when you thought he might do some straight rap, Tall Kyle takes everybody by surprise and sings some more: “Airplane mode stoned in my zone/ OE throwed with an OZ rolled/ Codeine poured in styrofoam/ Old Z-Ro hoe leave me alone.” His rockstar demeanor does come through though when he enumerates without any specific criteria, the types of women he had to deal with: “All the Asian hoes and the black and the blonde women/ Now I slide through and they look at my like they saw Drizzy/ Starring at her ass and the way that her thong fitting/ All my exes bad, that don’t mean they ain’t bad people.”
With mathematical deliberativeness, Tall Kyle injects some humor in his ending verse: “Faker than the money they been making for Monopoly/ Your friends try angels to break us up like isosceles/ I’m in a realer state and now you other people’s property/ Dispatch the debauchery.” Eesh! Shots been fired!
Song Credits: Talat Ilgar (Soulchild) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
4. Boody
The electric guitar is a beauty of incomparable majesty that suavely leads Boody, the 4th track off Cigarettes. Boody revels in breathtaking personal plenitude: “Texas skies spill in my mind and heal my life’s mess/ Daddy was a rollin’ stone, and mama was a looker/ Daddy f*cked with tar and that turned mommy to a hooker/ Them boys from the south f*ck with slabs like a butcher.” The sincere mindlessness in Tall Kyle’s lyrical mannerism is a gift to remember.
Tall Kyle adjusts his flow emphasis to match the bars’ endings thus significantly increasing the likeability of Boody. To be noted how the Rap artist makes great use of the common-person relatability reminding us of when Lorde first hit the scene (“And everyone who knows us knows/ That we’re fine with this, we didn’t come from money”): “We push buckets ain’t no porches/ We on buses not the Forbes list.”
The palpable nihilism is the awoken animal at the end of Boody: “If I die before I wake, I don’t think I will though/ I pray the Lord my soul to take and I bet that HE still won’t/ I guess I never really loved myself and now I still don’t/ Suppose it never matters in the end, and no we’ real close.”
Song Credits: Joey Molina (Por Vida) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
5. Old Pictures
The 5th record, Old Pictures, is a banger. Not in the traditional sense but a banger it is. Very melodic, very appealing, very fluid. The narrative is directed at achieving an I-told-you-so status: “I can’t stop grinding to say I told you bitches/ And I just want flex, and stunt on my old bitches/ I’m trying to move forward cuz shit is so different/ Don’t want to think about it, I’m burning our old pictures.” It is rather unbelievable how much Willis resembles Tall Kyle’s voice. You would easily mistake the two for one another if you don’t read the song credits.
The music is a particular contrast between strong drums and an even-stronger piano. While expansive in every direction, the sound does come off as cohesive as it is unified by the very similar voices of the two artists. Tall Kyle adds his own down-to-earth argument: “The diamonds though they shine, are often too big for eyes/ Happiness ain’t money on mountains we can’t climb/ What good is the 2 door when the homies can’t ride/ So we come to the heart cuz all ours are the same size, still I…”
Old Pictures, albeit hinting to a specific portrayal, is a sentimentally-focused record with an earworm factor to it. It speaks of the grind, dreaming of a better place, struggling with emotions, theoretical revenge.
Song Credits: Antonio Fuentes (ASF) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle), Matthew Willis (Willis) – Rap Artists, Songwriters; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
6. Pitch Black
This is that expensive record that could very well be consumed while sipping on limited edition Veuve Clicquot in a laid-back lounge with invite-only guests. Pitch Black, contrary to its name, is vividly heightened in its reach by the sublime organic quality to it. The exquisitely peaceful mood is original and a nice turning point on Cigarettes.
The most entertaining moment drops in the second part of the record where we’re reminded of the poster girls for plastic surgery: “Now I’ma pop a Xan/ Lie and say it’s a tic tac/ Tar in the smack bag/ And that b*tch pitch black/ Haters wise to get back/ Fake as Nikki or Kim’s ass.” Gotta admire it when it doesn’t come from a female for women get labeled as jealous when stating the same. We’re loving every second of it.
The guys go out with a bang, staying true to their unfiltered honesty: “I should probably get some rest/ But I’m stayin’ up for a check/ My insomnia got me vexxed/ No rest/ A bad liver and a broken heart.” When you’re done listening to the record you understand that Pitch Black is a song for the art lovers, the music aficionados, the people with refined taste, for it is filled to the brim with that elusive, elemental X factor that pulls you in and charms you.
Song Credits: Antonio Fuentes (ASF) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle), Carlos Colon (Pennywise Syndagod) – Rap Artists, Songwriters; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
7. Daboo
Daboo is hard like a MF-er and the wording matches the gravitas in essence: “Daboo trapping carts and cocaine out the back his Grandma house/ Jack boys robbing people by the ATMs with cameras out/ Combat the darkness with the Ayahuasca, pour it down my throat/ Sheep in wolves clothing, but the homies all call me the goat.” Seems like Tall Kyle made a private pledge to his audience to always deliver meaningful stories only. It is fascinating how not even one word or discourse marker is placed just for rhyming purposes. All bars are tied with each other and into one another. Beautiful.
After willfully provocative reiterations of breaking the law and drug references, Tall Kyle confronts his listeners with the more spiritual side of things in life: “We all grow and go through changes/ There’s times we feel we can’t take it/ God will help us through these changes /Thank you for the scribbles, know you died but I can feel you here.”
The music gets super close to what we’d say… slowed down Boom Bap. The acoustically dry aspect of the song might be something new to Gen Zers but it THE comfort food for ’80s babies.
Song Credits: Joey Molina (Por Vida) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
8. Mona Lisa
Songs like this are not made every day or every year. From the chant-like hook, the piercingly cold voice that doesn’t deviate a single second from the script, the mystical sounds, the huge drums, Mona Lisa by Tall Kyle might just send you in shock, revive you, and send you back into it again. The artist raps in a savage, eerie manner that has you on the edge of your seat for exactly 2 minutes and 59 seconds. Tall Kyle balances the calming music elements with statements like “My last past life, I was Judas, now I’m King Tut/ Lickin’ blood off gold forks, y’all eating peanuts”.
Tall Kyle transmits a convoluted mix of confessions and reflections to the public through his steady, homogenous flow: “I did all that riding in parking lots over speed bump/ Syrup got me slippin all slow but the team krunk/ Blueprint for the angels/ In the Amazon no Bezos.”
Occultism meshed with history and pop references are what Jay Z is known for and the fact that Tall Kyle heavily hints of Jigga’s voice, is mindblowing. We also gotta give props to the flawless mixing and mastering quality. The production allowed both the artist and the instrumental to shine individually and as a unity at the same time. If in many songs one or the other takes the precedence, Mona Lisa is 50% voice and 50% music. Perfect.
Song Credits: Kyle Joseph Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Sriter, Performer; Antonio Serapio Fuentes (ASF) – Music Producer; Jason Michael Anderson-Ebener (Jsun the Prophesor) – Recording and Sound Engineer.
9. Not Godly
“Ah man, here goes Tall Kyle always repping that weird ass sh*t man!” – lmao who got this guy saying this on tape? 😀 Whilst derogatory in appearance, it does make for one intriguing intro. What other artist will have people talk smack about them on their very song? no one. Tall Kyle shows upfront his indifference towards people who don’t get him. Yet!
Between astutely placed comfort tracks and commercially appealing hooks, Not Godly is stripped off of theatricals and boils down to existential revelations: “Space and time ain’t real, at least not what you think/ Sheep can’t comprehend cuz all their thoughts are diseased,” “Earth can be a heaven or a prison/ You create reality whatever you envision,” “At times of no avail we look up and ask God why.” Tall Kyle, not so shockingly but definitely contendently places himself against all scriptured religions: “Rakim wrote the mystery/ I close my eyes and I can see the star system vividly/ The devil told me turn my back on the God I’m meant to be/ Your scripture is a joke, we are all God literally.”
With no intention to renegotiate his affinity for dark-toned, minor notes, Tall Kyle thrives on the doleful instrumental of Not Godly and shows no sign of stopping any soon. That’s his brand.
Song Credits: Antonio Fuentes (ASF) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
10. 333
With modernized verses and lo-fi hooks, 333 grants quite the show. Big Tree #4Real raps with an end-of-the-world fury: “Peace dog/ You f*ckin’ with me dog/ Get my drugs for free dog/ I don’t even need y’all/ Feel my energy dog/ Love my enemies y’all/ Life ain’t what it seem y’all/ I would never leave y’all.” If you’re wondering why it sounds familiar, that’s because it does slightly carry the infamous cadence of Jay Z’s Run This Town verse (skip to 1:12). His vocal register seems tighter than Tall Kyle’s but lower in octave which is a nice balancing of the two tenors.
Tall Kyle, on the other hand, takes it home with his intricate ideas on mysticism and divine purpose: “We don’t exist on accident/ Speak like Jesus of Nazareth/ Are we Gods? are we savages?/ The mind’s eye sees peace but there’s a war that’s in the back of it.”
The instrumental feels remarkably rich in its sonic components having plenty of singer ad-libs throughout the song as well as the artists’ own ad-libs. The broad, ancient-seeming direction of 333 holds up to its promise until the end, letting the listener extract his own splendid obscurity at any given moment.
Song Credits: Nabil Latafi (Yung Nab) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle), Jeremy Kimble (Big Tree #4Real)- Rap Artists, Songwriters; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
11. The World Loved Pac
The World Loved Pac is the 11th record off Cigarettes and doesn’t necessarily introduce any new features to the album but it does prolong the soothing, classic fondness of organic Rap music. “Adults telling us what to do with confuse us/ Ayahuasca in the woods would subconsciously fuse us/ I shed a couple tears when they said my mom got a tumor/ I’m laying in the grass and tripping acid touching tulips” – Tall Kyle doesn’t feel like a rapper by now. He is more of a modern philosopher using Rap to express his ideas and demonstrating the herculean power of a simplistic instrumental paired with homogenous cadence.
Beneath the somewhat monochromatic surface of the song, The World Loved Pac packs a plethora of pragmatic life lessons: “Basing myself worth on women done got me screwed up,” “Fake people, faker asses/ Who all preach what they don’t practice,”“My father used to tell me sh*t like hold your f*cking horses/ Urging me to think before I made my bad choices.”
Tall Kyle resumed his forever-preaching character on The World Loved Pac and generously veiled his storyline with equal parts of third party references and self-assessment.
Song Credits: Chamothy Holms (SouthSide Hippie) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
12. Goodbye
The need for an alternative melodic input has been supplied by Goodbye. The 12th record brilliantly depicts an artist’s arrival at the eternal place of self-acceptance: “All I want to do is rap/ All I want to be’s a dad/ I think I always knew my path/ I’ll always love myself for that/ It feels like I love myself at last/ And I can’t hold on to the past/ It looks like all my bags are packed/ And I ain’t never looking back.”
The music bestows a sleek contemporary trap-like sound with a singular lead voice. It might just be our favorite off the album. Even the flow is slightly altered having a more woke tinge to it, in a sense of liveliness and presence. Think if Drake had meaningful things to say. That’s exactly what Goodbye is. If Tall Kyle pursued more of this avenue, it would permit, in our personal and professional opinion, a much faster development of an engaging fanbase. It clicks and it sticks!
The deliberate grandeur of Tall Kyle’s lyricism on Goodbye meshed with the cosmic-sounding production is the most thrilling delight on Cigarettes.
Song Credits: Chamothy Holms (SouthSide Hippie) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
13. Sad Dog
Sad Dog offers a real sense of space and depth to Tall Kyle’s character. He’s not just in preach mode 24/7. He also has a heart, he’s hurt others, and been hurt too. “I always f*ck up, damn, I don’t know why I do that/ I had her heart y’all don’t know what I had to do to lose that/ I’m broke as f*ck, she whippin’ a Lexus with a new bag/ She f*ckin’ with her new dude, baby I want you back.” Ouch! Nothing pains more than seeing your ex doing better than you. Ironically, his supreme honesty constitutes an empathetic statement for whoever relates. You can’t feel bad for Tall Kyle without feeling bad for yourself too. A new form of therapy if we may say so.
With a rather stoic dignity, Tall Kyle knows how to wrap things up for the audience, hinting back to the album title: “I smoked my last cigarette I’m workin’ on my last beer/ I have cried enough in my life, I shed my last tear.” Well… you might shed a tear yourself at the following bars: “Almost killed myself on Prozac/ F*ck yo boyfriend wit his hoe ass/ He got everything that I don’t have/ Y’all got everything that we both lack” – daaaaaaamn. Nothing feels worse than an ex leveling up with someone better. Amen Tall Kyle. Amen.
The guitar and drum ensemble bump together with slow but imposing force. That Boom Bap undertone is everything and Tall Kyle’s sincere, unassuming tone will definitely help some broken hearts across the world.
Song Credits: Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
14. Kyle’s House Part 3
The 14th and the very last record off Cigarettes, Kyle’s House Part 3 (Bonus) is robustly centered around mental trips and badass friends in the pen: “All our cars covered in dents and/ Half of us have been to prison,” “Floatin’ round the planet I guess I got that rings of Saturn vibe,” “My mama still mad I’m high/ I’ll take this to the afterlife.”
The flow doesn’t vary, abiding the staccato cadency for the 2 minutes and 46 seconds the song lasts. While Sad Dog could have been the IT ending, Tall Kyle decided to leave on a boss note, reminding the audience who’s in command: “Y’all don’t want no parts of me/ B*tch get out, this Kyle’s House/ And don’t nobody smoke for free.”
Song Credits: Nabil Latafi (Yung Nab) – Music Producer; Kyle Billeaudeaux (Tall Kyle) – Rap Artist, Songwriter; Jason Anderson-Ebener (Jsun The Prophesor) – Sound Engineer.
Cigarettes is new and exciting. It is Tall Kyle’s pinnacle of lyrical opulence merged with dynamic production styles. Many songs are old-school flavored, some have a modern touch, and others defy all standardized expectations. It is almost as if one was witnessing good boy gone bad and there’s no turning back. Poetic. Doleful. Impactful.
Make sure you add Cigarettes to your playlists on Apple Music HERE, on Deezer HERE, on Amazon HERE, on YouTube Music HERE, on Tidal HERE, and on Spotify below:
Reach out to Tall Kyle on his Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2021
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 