While growing up in Detroit, James had a friend in his neighborhood who went by the name Boldy, who “didn’t rap, he just sold cocaine.” James “Boldy” Osley was later murdered, and, since they shared the name, James, Jones decided to carry on the name in his rap career. The DNA of Detroit and its influence on both Boldy himself and his sound is evident throughout the record, with a number of samples throughout the record starting and ending tracks with messages about Detroit, a number of which sound like they come from old television or radio samples. That spirit and heritage feels laced throughout the record. Boldy’s style and wordplay is not only impressive across the record, but feels unique to him and his experiences. The storytelling and descriptions on the album feel almost intrusive, like a man has opened his soul entirely, describing his insecurities, trauma, and confessing his sins over the sound of raw emotion, unfiltered. The closing moments of this record on "Got Flicked (The Rebirth)" feel like an encapsulation of paranoia and dwelling on the past, coming to terms with life as it has been given and lost in thought about what it means.
My baby mama and my son didn't show up
When I realized I ain't tell 'em I was leaving when the bailiff threw me in the cuffs, fukk
Then he whispered in my ear, "This, too, shall pass"
Now I'm shackled by my frame to the floor of a bus with some strangers
Cliqued up with some demons, got into it with some lifers
Learned to communicate with angels
It’s not often an album of this level arrives. A project so long in the making, so intently focused, and so painfully personal that it feels intrusive. The depth of the project’s sounds and poetry is impossible to digest upon dozens of listens, nevermind the first. The story behind the record is almost as fascinating as its content, and despite the love it has gotten from certain circles and online forums, it still feels like a record that should have made far larger a splash than it has. That being said, the staying power of this record will likely prove itself in the years to come, especially as Boldy James continues his exponential growth. This is without a doubt one of the most powerful hip-hop records in years, and one that will go down as a landmark achievement, blending new and old with startling ease, and emblematic of the sort of personal expression and raw introspection most key to the human experience.
Highlights
I just lost my two twins in an accident
Would've been my firstborn kids, guess it wasn't meant
It's been a series of unfortunate events
And I'm gettin' real leery of whom I call my friends
- “The Middle of Next Month”
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Get out of line, and I'm gunnin' you down, so stay in single file
'Fore you in the line of fire, tryna renege
Like you threw a nine of diamonds out when I led with spades
And you sittin' trump tight
We got hand grenades, I pull this pin, it's goodnight
Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite
Keep a razor blade or jagged-edge butcher knife
-”Mommy Dearest (A Eulogy)”
Therapeutic to the user, the heroin abusers
Know I'm a ConCreature like I'm starin' at Medusa
-”Medusa”
Got the drug-free school zone high
God, tell the devil Boldy want a spot if I gotta suffer
Got some 1-2, 3-4, 5-slot, heavy metal pokin' out my side for you motherfukkin' sissies
Your boy an assassin, my city ain't no tourist attraction, this Detroit where shyt happens
Cats get shot in their jibs
Extorted, kidnapped, or robbed for their yen
My ConCreature fam been known for causin' casualties
Don't eff with them boys off of McNichols
But come back to Detroit, sorry we missed you
With this northern hospitality
You welcome to 76
-”Welcome to 76”
It's six million ways to die to choose from
Hardest thing to do is stay alive, go to school son
I know nikkas who died when they was too young
To even realize, don't even think twice, just shoot guns
And let the trigger decide, took a few slugs
Blink twice, bleedin' from his eyes, cried blue blood
When they crimsoned his tide in new ones
Left him laid out flat in some already-been-chewed gum
-”Why Are You In Her(e)?”
It's real life shyt, this ain't Hansel & Gretel
In my kitchen, Pyrex right next to the kettle
Open the cabinet, farina right next to the pet milk
With my strap on, the sink full of dishes and residue
Phone tapped, I think, and my minutes is hella low
Who in the hell'd think that that kid'd be sellin' dope?
From petty thief, misdemeanors to federal
Seventeen in the clink for some weed in my leather coat
-”Got Flicked (The Rebirth)”
