Buffalo, New York’s Pretty Bulli has put together one of the top 5 bodies of work released by an independent hip hop artist this year. Her project ”Set it Off,” which is inspired by the 90’s classic movie “Set it Off,” is completely produced by P.A.Dre. The way this body of work came about reminds me of how Jay-Z saw the movie “American Gangster “ and decided to make an album inspired by the movie. Apparently “Set it Off” brought about the same type of inspiration in Pretty Bulli. Boy,did her inspiration blossom into a great body of work. With each song she goes deep, writing from the perspective of one of the ladies in the “Set it Off”crew. She starts with “Discrimination,”where she rhymes over a lush soul sample and introduces each of the characters. She then talks about the societal ills that led these ladies to look to crime as a solution to their problems. “Not the Same” introduces us to Tisean and how her dilemma with child services led her to chose a dangerous path. “Procedure” tells how Frankie’s experience losing her bank teller job after being falsely accused of being the inside person in a robbery fueled the resentment that made her game to run up in banks and take money. On “ Day After Day” Pretty Bulli breaks things down from Cleo’s perspective. “What I Go Through” is Stony’s story, and man it’s bangin’. The crispness of the drums P.A. Dre uses is incredible. The whole project sounds like a throwback to the days of big budgets with A&R’s and big name producers. What I mean is, this project sounds like big money, even though it was independently produced with no features. The quality of this project is undeniable. The writing shows Pretty Bulli’s growth as a songwriter. She’s always been a skilled lyricist, but the way she jumps into the mind of each character to tell their story is next level. Each song is dope but fits like a piece to a puzzle to make a cohesive body of work. P.A. Dre’s beats create a vivid soundscape for Pretty Bulli to bounce around with her verbal dexterity. This project is a refreshing change of pace from today’s single driven industry. “Set It Off” is a project that fans of some of hip hop’s classic bodies of work should definitely appreciate.
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