We The Union: Undeniable (Album Review)

We The Union unify soulful, MPC-style production with hard-hitting lyrics that are Hip Hop to the core.

For their debut album, We The Union, certainly know how to make an impression, and more importantly, they know who they are and who their audience is. The Hip-Hop quad is reminiscent of early 2000’s groups like Dipset and The Clipse, with their speaker-knocking sound and effortlessly slick production.

The opening title track is just as good as any Little Brother track produced by 9^th Wonder, it’s simple, soulful, and feels inseparable from the rapper’s performances. It’s a song that also showcases their wide range of lyrics, the group can go from video game references like “If I’m a bitch, I’m Sonya giving a death kiss”, to wrestling references “I’m the best there ever was, the best there ever will be, Brett Hart shit, you want this belt? You gotta kill me.” Despite their broad range of themes, never of them ever feel out of place or clash with the other, proving a clear sense of genuine identity, We The Union rap like who they are, not who they think they are.

Track four, Get Me Back, is a grimy street anthem that feels straight out of Roc-A-Fella’s prime 2000’s era. The rappers’ performances follow this same wavelength, oozing with swagger and a signature southern cool that’s as infectious as the Pharrell-style beat. The dark, grittiness of the production makes me wonder what the group would sound like on Griselda/Westside Gunn-style beats.

In contrast, to the groups’ street side, the song High Density stunningly shows their versatility, taking a more mellow, Lo-Fi-inspired musical direction with the boom-bap drums and grainy 90’s sound. The sample of the female singer feels awkward and out of key at first but feels more and more natural as the track goes on.

Straight From The Heart, follows High Density’s lead, using a chipmunk soul sample of ConFunkShun’s song of the same name. The song’s hook is used brilliantly, alongside the various chops and cuts used to build quite possibly one of the most addicting beats on the album. As the song title suggests, the rappers talk about their life struggles and thoughts weighing on their hearts. All three of the performers talk about the catch-22 of the drug game and the people and parts of themselves they’ve lost to it.  

As the album progresses, the group begins to lose some of their momentum. On My Shit and Oh My are both far from creating contemporary trap hits. Oh My’s explicit lyrics, in particular, clash with the soulful style the group displayed in the first half, like if Pusha T joined a Pierre Bourne beat, it would sound incongruous and strange.

Of course, every artist needs mass appeal, especially on a debut project like this, however, I feel like the group should’ve just stayed true to soul sample sound all the way through, even if it meant sacrificing some diversity.

Track 15, Money & Power, is also on my list of low-ranking songs. The bell chimes that sound out throughout the hook and parts of the verse are jarring and invade all the space on the track, and sound out of place. The hook itself is generic and honestly uninspiring. Chanting “Money, Power” as a hook is beneath this group’s lyrical capability, and in my opinion, they could’ve done a lot better.

Despite these road bumps, the album does end up closing nicely. The excellent voice of Jodie Flair gives the track a 90’s Mary J. Blige feel, a soundscape in which the rappers also flourish. Lyrically, the song is easily the most hard-hitting as one rapper talks about the tragic pitfalls of his teenage years, whilst another talks about the poverty and the “first times” of his childhood. It’s a song that humanizes the rappers and builds a connection with the audience. A great closer.

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Score/Good+: The first half of the album feels like a brilliant love letter to the soulful, purist sound of 1990s-2000s hip hop. The beats are great, and the sample chops are nothing short of masterful and intoxicating. However, Personally, I would love to hear what the group can do on some Alchemist/Griselda-type instrumentals or even some more boom-bap production.

[I rank albums on a scale of: Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, Outstanding]

Written by Jake Campbell.