Natalac – The Return of Goldie (Album Review)

Today’s review features the new Southern hip-hop and Pimp Hop album by the Jacksonville, FL, USA, rapper Natalac (born Sheldon Martinez Davis) titled “The Return of Goldie” which just dropped January 26, 2025. With over 30 years in the rap game, Natalac is back to burn your ears.

Natalac describes his inspiration as “My own losses and wins in life, and the solutions I find because of them, drive me. My music reflects my journey and my growth.” And describes his music as “I make Pimp Hop, Pimp Rap, and Southern Hip Hop. I’m one of the pioneers of it.”

So let’s have a listen …

The album starts of strong with a sick beat and keyboard riff with the song Trending Topic, about what you think it is about – trending on social media. Nice rhymes by Natalac, Benzino, and Mr Smith Aka Bo$$ Money. They manage to rhyme “topic” with “poppin”. This is a nice track, makes me want to hear more from this artist. The performances and mix are dope. And true to form, they manage to reference their Jacksonville roots.

The next track Jacksonville News isn’t a song, just a short news interview. About a rapper (Foolio) who was shot and killed. It’s included as a lead in to the next track Jacksonville Hip Hop, which kicks off with an eerie keyboard riff and has Natalac telling a story about the hip-hop scene in Jacksonville. I don’t like the vocal on the “Jacksonville, Jacksonville” bit at the start of the song, but once the beat drops at 00:40 into the song, the melodies and rhymes start to flow from the heart. “Then the RICO case is dropped.” I like how the song ends on the word “church” just out of the blue.

Scam Likely (SpamRisk) is a lively track about Duval County where Jacksonville sits. I like the soundscape created by this song. It’s interesting to listen to, your ears are like “what the hell is going on?” I love the phone call ending to this track. This artist has a sense of humor.

D.U.V.A.L. repeated over and over. How many ways can we say Duval? I like the Gator Bowl reference, the city of Jacks, I like the flow in the song, but I’m not really liking the D-U-V-A-L as the hook of the song. Truth. But I suppose if you’re from Duval County, you’d probably like it at the show. I like the Boss Pimpin Mix of this song included as a separate track at the end of the album (track 12). Nice flow by YATBAT. Diggin’ the speed of it.

The next track One Two is only available if you buy the album. Mystery?

The seventh track Rich Niggas features Natalac and Benzino again. This track has a nice vocal mix, and I love the rhythmic nature of the vocals. They pop. All she want to do is fuck with Rich Niggas. Lots of anatomy, LOL. I really like the sound of this Pimp track. The song could be longer.

She Was Made for the Streets off with a speech about women taking over your world and the declaration that some women are made for the streets. But after the speech, it falls into a nice flow. The song is all about sex. Definitely explicit. I like the “milk and cereal” reference at the end of the song. “Just another hit, smoke that shit!” I can dig it, even if it is racy.

The ninth song is Right By You with Natalac and Ronnie Real. I like this song once the flow gets going. Nice East Philly rhythmic style to the vocals. I think the vocals during the “right by you” chorus could be better aka more sonically pleasing. But then the song drops back into a nice flow. Pimp song. I like the variation of the rap flows, keeps the song interesting.

Duval Dade (Damn Pimp Mix) with Natalac and JT Money “Duval Dade, OG Pimp Getting Paid”. Very interesting mix. I love the female vocals. “Is that one of them damn pimps?” LOL. The beat track seems to be a bit distorted, so I would fix that in the mix.

And really, how many songs about Duval can you put on one album? I suppose in this genre you get street cred by referencing your hometown. I’m imagining a hip-hop Super Bowl with artists from one city on a stage in one end zone, and artist from another city on a stage in the other end zone competing to see who gets more of the crowd’s attention, trading rhymes.

A.T.M., the eleventh song has a very Middle Eastern instrument track. The track features Natalac and Haze Karolina. Really nice flow on this song. Another song about sex and a girl who has a lot of boyfriends. “Welcome to the party, come please me with your body.” I like the chorus in this one.

SCORE/Good: I really liked the first song on this album Trending Topic. And the album is full of nice interesting flows. If you’re from Jacksonville, you’ll probably dig this album. I really liked most of the performers on this album over a nice collection of beats and mixes. There were times when I didn’t particularly like the scratchy vocals or the distorted mix which keeps me from rating this album as Excellent. Curious about Florida Pimp-Hop sounds? Check out this new album. Much love, Beth

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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