Akeem Ali has been underrated for too long!

About 4 years ago we were introduced to a smooth sounding rapper from Mississippi. Randomly on the 85 South show they had Akeem do a performance which turned into a freestyle. Not only was it impressive but it made you think. WHERE DID THIS COUNTRY DUDE COME FROM?! From there I’ve tried to keep track of his music. He turned his smooth talking style into an alternate personality “Keemy Casanova”. So there would be tracks where the name of the artist would be the alternate character which can be confusing. Also doing something like that can be dangerous. You don’t want to be a caricature of yourself.

Years down the line something funny happened. I scrolled Tik Tok and seen Akeem Ali on LIVE. He was promoting Texture Tape 2. From what I was hearing he leaned all the way in on the Keemy Casanova sound. The question for me was how would he sound on a mixtape full of tracks with that sound? I went on streaming and not only did I see Texture Tape 2 but the first installment was there as well.

The first thing you will notice with tapes is that each track is named after a different fabric. When you hit play the next thing you will notice are the beats. The beats are smooth. The beats never outshine Keep. The third thing you notice is that he has BARS.

The intro starts with “Champagne cork ima pop off/ I feel like a mountain in an avalanche/the way I been gettin my rocks off”. Honestly the only thing I think someone might get tired of is his tagline “rollin”. I feel like he finds clever ways to say it through out songs. He’s much more melodic on the first Texture tape. “Crushed Velvet” is one of my favorites. He gives a nice hook and bars.

When you hit play on Texture Tape 2 you notice that the beats are different. Texture Tape 1 seem like flips to a 70’s or 80’s vibe. Texture 2 the beats are all updated. Seems like he just wanted to rap on this one. Didn’t waste time with hooks on this one. Keem’s really ap style reminds me of Andre 3k. A style where he is just talking to you but getting bars across. This he bars and punches remind me of Wayne. Its been a while since I’ve had to ask “how did he think of that”. Oh yea and “Felt” on the second tape. He went crazy.

The only thing missing from these tapes are R&B singers. It also makes too much sense for him to collab with guys like Paak, BJ Chicago Kid or an Anthony Hamilton. Actually anybody with soul should have Keem as a collab. Especially if they are looking for an old sound like a Silk Sonic feel. I’m not sure if you can name someone that comes with bars at this pace like Keep does. If you add hooks from R&B singers and rhymes with substance these mixtapes turn into an album. I hope he gets the attention he deserves. I also hope we get more music from where it is telling his story and it doesn’t get buried by the personality he is currently displaying. I’m going to rate both albums together and I give the series a solid 8 out of 10.

Rating 8/10
Definitely room for improvement but the bars and creativity are undeniable.