mckinley dixon is a really talented artist which is something i found out after listening to the album he put out in 2023, beloved paradise jazz. it was, as you might expect, a jazz album, which on its own doesnt make the album particularly interesting. jazz and rap have gone together since the inception of the genre, but theres something about the way jazz instruments were incorporated into BPJ that really made it something special, and potentially one of my fav albums to come out that year. it was in your face and intense at times, the instrumentals having a level of complexity that jazz instrumentals rarely have when repurposed for rap beats. these songs are not kick back n relax, play around your friends during a party kinda deal. theyre meant to really be listened to and digested, and there's a lot to find in the lyrics of these tracks as well. even if you dont want to do that necessarily though, which if im being honest i sometimes really dont want to, theyre still just good songs that go hard in a variety of contexts.
magic alive is honestly just more of the same. which is totally good, like dixon has a winning formula here. he shows his prowess as a songwriter here and honestly flexes his creativity a bit more as well, something apparent on songs like recitatif and were outside rejoice. consequently, these are some of my favorite ones here. recitatif has a beat switch about halfway through that breaks up the expectations that you have from listening to the album up until that point, and it turns it into a headbanging relentless song at a level of intensity not yet seen from what ive heard of nixon. were outside has a lot of group vocals on the chorus, which i really liked. that combined with the instrumental just gives this song great vibes, great for a song about being happy about where you are.
however, overall i dont think i enjoyed as many of these songs as i did on BPJ. again, its certainly a good album but it sometimes feels like its going for something bigger than what it actually gets. BPJ did a great job of conveying the themes on its different songs throughout the album, but magic alive doesnt really do that as much for me at least. that being said, this album isnt really made for me if that makes sense? like i dont feel like i can connect with it very well i dunno exactly what it is. this is present on BPJ for me as well but to a lesser extent on that one i think. still plenty of interesting production and creative, unique songwriting on here to make this worth a listen i think, especially because a lot of people will get more out of it than i did.