Following the success of his brilliantly produced debut album Frank, Richmond rapper Fly Anakin revealed that he will be working with fellow Mutant Academy member foisey on the loosely conceived Skinemaxxx project as his next venture. The project was divided into two distinct EPs by the two, each of which was supposed to tell a different chapter of the same story. In March, Side A was made available. Even while it offered yet another demonstration of Anakin’s extraordinary rap skills, it lacked cohesiveness and frequently destroyed its own momentum with awkward sequencing and skits. Side B, which highlights the chemistry between Anakin and foisey, is a significant turn around. Highlights from Side A include “Outsidigan’s Anthem,” a brown liquor boogie, and “Blicky Bop,” a crisp stutter-step drill that shows Anakin branching out. He was obviously trying to move away from the reflective stoner lane he had become accustomed to, but it’s possible that he wasn’t quite sure how.
Though masterfully composed, a large portion of Side A reverted to the familiar territory of hushed loops and mesmerizing vocal patterns. The music mostly sounded like a haphazard collection of excellent Mutant Academy tracks, yet occasionally it lived up to the sleazy promise of the album title and cover. The pair finally finds their groove on Side B, as Anakin unleashes some of his most sensual rhymes to date while foisey really embraces the somber, quiet storm approach he had alluded to. Their opening track, “Taxicab Confessions,” immediately establishes their stronger position. The song enthusiastically sways with a come-hither groove reminiscent of Ginuwine’s early discography. With ridiculous pick-up lines like “put that pussy in a bottle/I’ma drink it while you model,” Anakin replies. His come-ons are ridiculous, yet they’re delivered with such conviction that it’s difficult to believe they don’t work. Anakin continues to get increasingly explicit over the banging g-funk of “Intrepid.” He boasts, “I make the bitch shout, my backstroke solid.” He reiterates his declaration of his sexual prowess later in the song: “He don’t flex enough? “I’ll pop you like a boil and do it for you.” “Lacy Duvalle,” the duo’s dazzling sex jam that finishes Side B, is based around a vocal sample that coos seductively, “put your tongue in my mouth, make me wet.” Contrary to Side A, Anakin and foisey maintain their intensity even when they deviate from the album’s smoldering lustfulness. Feeling tacked on and underdeveloped was the imagined character of GoQuan, the silent star of the skits interspersed throughout the first EP (and addressed in “Outro,” Side B’s lone skit).
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