Guide to Boldy James

Boldy James is far and away one of the most prolific artists currently releasing music. A stark contrast from his labelmate Stove God Cooks, who has yet to release his sophomore project, Boldy is about to drop his fourteenth full-length project since the beginning of this incredible run in 2020. With so much music to get through, many people may not know where to begin when they stumble upon him. An almost unprecedented run, one of the most prolific rappers this side of Gucci Mane has left his stamp on the scene in a real way. With this guide, hopefully I can help some people dive deeper into his discography and understand why I consider him to be one of the best and most exciting artists currently out there. 

The Price of Tea in China

The Price of Tea in China, produced entirely by The Alchemist, is the album that really kickstarted the recent Boldy renaissance. While not my favourite of his projects, or even of his collaborations with Al, it’s still a very strong album featuring some standout performances and entrancing production. As something of a retry for Boldy following a relatively disappointing few years that followed his debut album, he showcases his impeccable chemistry with his most common producer, and the one that has brought him the most success and acclaim. He would hit higher peaks in some of the following projects, but we would not be witnessing this run if TPOTIC had not happened to thrust Boldy back into the scene. 

Best Track: “Surf & Turf” ft. Vince Staples

Manger on McNichols

Okay, controversial opinion from me: I personally have never understood the hype surrounding this album. One of his most critically acclaimed, and often considered to be his best by fans, this album was recorded long before its release with producer Sterling Toles, only to be held onto for over a decade. With the production of the album being started in 2007, it is technically the oldest project on this list despite being released not too long after TPOTIC. Don’t get me wrong: I do still find this to be a pretty enjoyable album. It is just very rough around the edges, and the age shines through pretty clearly. Boldly is not in his peak form yet, and things like the vocal mixing are not as polished as we would come to be used to in his following projects. The production from Toles is still a standout, however, with his jazzy tapestry taking centre stage, with Boldy’s voice folding in as yet another instrument to compliment the soundscape. Overall, far from my favourite project, but still one of the most essential if only to highlight the progression of him as an artist.

Best Track: “Mommy Dearest (A Eulogy)”

Fair Exchange No Robbery

Now THIS is my kinda shit. Far and away my favourite project from this list, this finds Boldy collaborating with Canadian producer Nicholas Craven for their first full album together (more on them later). After they first worked together on Craven’s song “Yzerman”, this finds them linking up for one of the most outstanding collab albums I may have ever heard, period. The hypnotic, and frequently drumless production provides the perfect backdrop for Boldy’s darkly comedic musings. While each song can stand on its own through this project, I find it is always best consumed as a full experience, played on full blast in a car with the windows down during the winter. It’s not too often you find what you could consider a “winter rap album” but I find this one to fit perfectly into that mold. Pretty sparse on features, with the only one being a fun appearance from Gue Wop on “0 Tre Nine”, it serves as the perfect vehicle for Boldy to discuss his experiences out in the street, along with dabbling into some other topics such as his issues with drug abuse. An incredible, possibly flawless record in my eyes that deserves even more shine than it already gets.

Best Track: All of Them

Bo Jackson

This is some more of that good shit, although quite different from Fair Exchange No Robbery. A sequel to the previous Alchemist collab, Bo Jackson takes everything from TPOTIC and amplifies it, smoothing out the edges and putting out an album that's every bit as smooth as its predecessor, if not better. With more interesting beats, better mixing, and more memorable songwriting, I find this album to be the peak of the now-legendary duo. With more high profile features this time around, with the likes of Earl Sweatshirt appearing alongside Boldy mainstays Freddie Gibbs and Benny the Butcher, this is a cohesive and strong album with some of the most purely fun songs in his entire catalogue. The second-best produced album on this list in my opinion (behind Fair Exchange), this is a remarkably consistent album in a discography that has become notable for its consistency. 

Best Track: “Brickmile to Montana”

My 1st Chemistry Set

To be completely honest, I don’t have a whole lot to say about this album. By far the worst project I will be diving into on its own today, this finds Boldy working with The Alchemist for the first time, before he had really found his footing or his sound. Featuring probably the weakest set of beats in their four albums together, it is still far from a bad album. It just fails to reach the consistent highs that pretty much all of the other albums on this list have hit, and suffers when compared to his later discography. It is most definitely an important listen for anyone looking to get into him fully, but for casual listeners, it’s best to leave this one to the side. 

Best Track: “400 Thousand”

Killing Nothing

The second of two albums with production duo Real Bad Man, Killing Nothing finds Boldy at his most straight-forward overall, with some strong, albeit “normal”, comparatively, beats that find him in a pocket that lines up more with his Griselda labelmates. An overall dark and eerie album, this features some of the best overall rapping in the entire discography, shining even more with less to work with production-wise. This is nothing against the beats, let me be clear: while the production is very strong, I just prefer him on the more doom-and-gloom, drumless beats that we have come to know him for as we get later into his career. While definitely a step-up from his previous album with Real Bad Man, Boldy has seen higher peaks in this stretch of his career, and higher peaks even in the year this album was released. Overall worth a listen, particularly for people who find the drumless sound to be a bit too annoying and repetitive for their liking. 

Best Track: “Open Door” ft. Rome Streetz and Stove God Cooks

Penalty of Leadership

We are so back. I am not kidding when I say this was far and away my most anticipated album that was to come out this year, and I can’t say I am disappointed at all with how it turned out. Featuring Boldy and Craven picking up exactly where they left off, this album has some special context. It came out following a near-death experience from Boldy, after he was in a car crash that left him hospitalised and wheelchair-bound, which helped to shape much of the narrative of this album. Although there is still plenty of him talking and rapping about his experiences in the streets and how that has left an effect on him even when far-removed from it, the situation gives him a chance to be more introspective than we have ever seen him before, diving more into discussions on his own mortality and what it was like having to go through physical therapy. While it is hard to say that it hits the peaks of its predecessor, Penalty of Leadership is still an outstanding album that finds the artists continuing to hone in their chemistry when working together.

Best Track: “Brand New Chanel Kicks”

The Versace Tape

When this one came out, I cannot say I saw it coming. Featuring production from former Vine star Jay Versace, I’m not exactly in love with this album, but seeing as it featured in Boldy’s insane 2020 run I figured I would give it a quick mention. The production is solid if not super memorable, featuring sounds that have been done far better by other producers across the discography, and the bars don’t hit quite as hard as they have in the past. It feels a bit longer than it is, at a succinct 23 minutes, and doesn’t do a lot to lend itself to relistens when there is so much more quality to listen to in the discography. A fine album overall, but I would only really recommend this to big Boldy fans who want to cover all of their bases. 

Best Track: “Brick Van Exel”

Super Tecmo Bo

The last in a series of collaborations with The Alchemist (thus far), this serves as something of a victory lap for the two, following their acclaimed album Bo Jackson. Featuring mostly tracks that had been left off of the previously mentioned album, Super Tecmo Bo finds the two of them still continuing to produce music that stands far above most other rappers out there, even when it is just their throwaway tracks. While certainly less cohesive in sound than most of the other projects on this list, this is still a fun project that holds a handful of tracks that I still love to go back to every once in a while, even if the two of them have other projects that are better overall. 

Best Track: “Hot Water Tank” ft. ICECOLDBISHOP

The Others/Conclusion

While this is generally a throwaway category for the projects that I am overall not too thrilled by, I did want to take a moment to shout out a couple of his singles that I am very fond of. “Turkey Noodle Soup” with The Alchemist and BandGang Lonnie Bands and “Death & Taxes'' with Nicholas Craven are both fantastically produced, and show two different sides of Boldy that even on their own, help showcase his appeal as much as ever. The Art of Rock Climbing is far and away the worst project released since his debut album came out, with DJ Butler lending nothing of interest and Boldy far from the peak of his powers by this point. Real Bad Boldy, his first collab with Real Bad Man, is a fine album that doesn’t do any one thing particularly fantastic, with weaker production than its sequel, although Boldy is still as entertaining as ever. Mr. Ten08 with Futurewave is pretty much the exact same situation, except there isn’t any sort of sequel that helps to redeem the producer. Be That As it May with Cuns is exceptionally boring, with very few tracks that I have chosen to return back to. The most recent album in this category, Indiana Jones with RichGains, finds Boldy paired up with some of the worst beats and mixing of his career, rendering anything he may be doing on the mic pointless as it is completely overshadowed by the lack of interesting production across this project. Overall, Boldy has one of the most impressive discographies of probably any rapper I have heard from any era. With numerous albums that I could see aging well enough to be considered classics, I have no doubt about his staying power, and I am incredibly excited for his upcoming album with Conductor Williams, with the singles seeming particularly promising.