REVIEW: Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? by McKinley Dixon

Today I listened to “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?” by McKinley Dixon

Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? is the second studio album from underground Virginia rapper “McKinley Dixon” I had previously listened to this album when it first dropped in 2023, but I decided to revisit the album to see if it holds up and I have to say it does very much. This album is a lot shorter than McKinley Dixon’s previous album at just 28 minutes compared to 2021's “For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her” at 48 minutes,  Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? makes up for just about everything else on this album and improving on all of the ideas and concepts of “For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her” such as the vivid Toni Morrison inspired storytelling in his raping almost making you really feel like you’re there and while a lot of the songs do discuss about dark subjects, such as in the track “Run Run Run” bemoaning neighborhood violence they almost feel inspirational and optimistic as if this song such as “Run Run Run” is about overcoming and escaping such a poor neighborhood in environment and the closing title track definitely brings the that things will get better in life. But the biggest highlights throughout this whole album is incredibly luscious and beautiful production with full jazz big bands on practically all the tracks which is really able to achieve a whole lot of feelings such as in the track “live! from the kitchen table” which really makes you feel like you’re at a family reunion and you’re setting aside all your differences and just enjoying each other’s company at the dinner table or the track “Hani reads Toni” which is an excellent mood, setter and opener for this album. This is definitely by far not one of the best rap albums of 2023 but one of the best albums of 2023 in general.

Rating: 9/10

Fav tracks: Sun i rise, Run Run Run, live! from the kitchen table, beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?