What a journey, this one. It feels as though you’ve just contemplated the meaning of being alive and dying in the span of twenty-eight minutes. “Blackship Enterprise” is a hip-hop album with a narrative, and it’s great.
It starts and ends with a fitting introduction and outro, namely “Blackship Enterprise” and “Broken Pieces” respectively. After listening to it front and back in order, it’s best for you to listen to it that way as well. It all just comes into place, and it all makes perfect sense.
All throughout, the beat and structure stays consistent and uniform, but each track still has that unique flair. It leaves you alone with the lyrics, which I have to say, is absolutely spot on. Iron Lion is a lyricist, and clearly knows his way through making art in this sense. The songwriting leaves you in awe, the way it’s delivered is great and laced with fitting rhymes which entices intrigue in the listeners.
“Lay It Down” comes after the introduction, featuring lyrics such as “I’m just a ghost, former picture of myself / An apparition from the mission of the depths of hell”. To be completely honest, it has resurrection vibes — religiously speaking. It gives listeners an idea of what’s to come with the remaining seven tracks as well.
The first thing that comes to mind with “Days Like This” is the element of reminiscence, with the words about pure memories and experiences of good times: “Sharing the joy, we had the best times / Partying until dawn under the pale moonlight”, and “Friends all around I can’t believe how this feels / Those days were the best and I’m being for real” are just relatable and nostalgic. With “Divide And Conquer”, it almost has the same feel, except it’s more on self-reflection and inner demons: “I’ve been climbing this mountain for so many years / So many emotions, laughter, and tears”, “Gotta turn around so the sunshine’s beaming”. It also includes a short little instrumental at the end, leading to the next track.
“Suns Out Guns Out” starts with a voiceover of what seems to be a weather forecast, which includes reports of sunny days. This one is both fun and meaningful as it contains lyrics like “Just give me some sun, a patio, and a beer / Snow thaw out, the best time of the year” and “I can feel it here in everyday’s getting longer / Incredible Hulk, each day’s getting stronger”. It’s got symbolism, in a way; maybe seasonal depression, or maybe getting yourself back in sunny days after some time of dark days.
Iron Lion has emphasized his medical episode and almost passed away from it, which so far, shows within his craft. “Living My Life” mentions a certain date that acted as a turning point for him: February 10th, 2024. The song itself is about living life to the fullest, because no one really knows until when we have it. “Trying new things, scratch ‘em off my bucket list / And really finding out just why we exist” and “‘Cause this year might be my last / Gotta lot of carpe diem going out with the blast” are just amazing lyrics.
“Pulling The Pin” acts quite literally as a story about Iron Lion’s background, childhood, and the road towards his career. Despite being the second to the last track, it’s also an introduction to the artist for the new listeners. He’s both telling and reminiscing about the old days, how he was back then and the process of creating his own music, and asking himself if he would do all of it again.
“Now it’s time to disappear into the sun” could mean more than one thing, and it’s one of the lines from the outro track. Positively speaking, it symbolizes the completion of a journey, which is literally true considering this is the last song of the album. Maybe it’s about being more self-aware, maybe it’s about the questions you’ve always asked your whole life finally being answered. This is a great way to end a record, with the final seconds being the sound of flatlining.
Overall, “Blackship Enterprise” is a concept album worth gracing your ears. Give it a go, and give Iron Lion some recognition for this masterpiece!
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About the Author
Kate Clarice Lee is a psychology major in Ateneo de Naga University with a knack for music and writing. She takes interest in playing guitar, poetry, creative writing, and lyrics that—subjectively—hit close to home. Kate mostly enjoys indie, alternative, pop & punk rock music.
