If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Often times in the music realm, consistency is synonymous with relevance and even success. If there was one emcee out today who embodied and personified the previous statement, it would likely be New Orleans artist, Curren$y. He has used his time since leaving Cash Money Records to drop a seemingly endless amount of music in the form of EP’s and mixtapes that gained a respectable number of followers, especially resonating with the marijuana indulgent folks out there. To this day, even with the vast array of options, many Curren$y fans and even those not overly fond of his relaxed, comfortable style would say his best work lies within the Pilot Talk album series. In 2010, he released both part one and part two to positive feedback. Now, after five years of continued Spitta releases unrelated to the two-part series, a trilogy reveals itself in the form of Pilot Talk 3.

This album is a return to the jazzy-soulful vibes and overall beautiful production of his first two entries in this series. Production is again helmed largely by the knowledgeable Ski Beatz who seems to know all too well how to make Curren$y comfortable on a beat. The album opens to the soothing hymn of a well chosen sample and introduces some brassy horns and bass on, ‘Opening Credits’ and it segways into the smoked-out thoughts of Curren$y on a typical morning on the second track ‘Long as the Lord Say’. He elongates the last syllable of each bar on the chorus and they fall supremely into their place amidst the peaceful notes of some horns.

He clearly enjoys his lifestyle and it is his level of content that make all the lifestyle talk about smoking, luxury and women sound like they mean more to him than your typical commercial grade rapper. At times, the album undoubtedly takes strides to become more than a follow-up and to set itself apart. On songs like ‘Froze’ which features production by Harry Fraud and has claps laid over a soft string instrument and features Riff Raff with his usual buffoonery and choppy rhyme scheme. The diversity of the sound on this song comes from the stellar production and while it may not be the best song on the album, it certainly is the most interesting.

To get a good idea of the direction that the album’s producers took the sound generally, think together some sounds of suave, calming elevator music mixed together with 808’s and jazzy rolls. This is the ideal soundscape for Curren$y to lounge in. He never feels rushed through a track and just lets the tales of his life and success roll off his tongue absentmindedly. The simplicity found in Spitta’s formulaic rhyme schemes and his lack of preachiness is welcomed with arms wide-open. Instead of listening to decipher like we are forced to do with many of today’s heavy-hitter rappers, we are given an opportunity to simply listen to the soothing, production of an album that just sounds nice.

It isn’t often that an album’s coherent progression from first track to last comes from the beat selection and placement, ahead of the lyrics. If the couple-second lapses between songs were taken away, each track would be just distinguishable enough from the last to carry over similar ideas but with new scenery; much like scenes in a movie. And based on the album’s first song, that is how this body of work was meant to be experienced.

The lyrical content is simple, easy to absorb and cliched. What sets it apart from any other rapper following the same general guidelines is the self-centered focus and his ability to do what he does best without seeming like he just finished reading the ‘How To Become A Famous Rapper Handbook’ (Which doesn’t actually exist, surprisingly). Curren$y is really just glad he has the life he does and realizes that it is no doubt owed to his extensive discography, consisting of similar sounding albums, be it because of words, beats or likely both. He doesn’t aim to shock you, surprise you or even himself for that matter. It certainly is interesting and nice to hear such a beautiful sounding project, put out by an artist who has created very similar work throughout his career; yet, he settles into his niche and celebrates the place within hip-hop that he occupies ever so efficiently.