Shylow is a 46 year old MC & producer from the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada notable for being a founding member the Bomb Shelta Association, 1/2 of the duo 1st Division, 1/2 of The Shelter, 1/2 of the Dookie Bros & 1/3 of The Drum Majors since Marco Polo referred to him as his Beat Yoda. His first ever solo single “Moment of Clarity” produced by Ayatollah came out in 2002 & was presumed to have an official solo debut album in the works, focusing more on The Shelter & more recently the Dookie Bros after 1st Division’s disbandment following their only full-length Overworked & Underpaid a few months after I had graduated high school. A decade later, the day has finally arrived.
The self-produced title track warns everyone that he already told y’all not to do him a certain way again & having the urgency of it happening once more hitting him whereas “Haute Tension” ominously talks about getting a lot of chest lyrically. “Bloodlust” suggests not to press your luck when battling him since you may in fact lose while “Ya Time’z Up” talks about lacking the fortitude of testicles over a boom bap instrumental.
“Opportunism” featuring Franchise futuristically finds the pair discussing schemers trying to control their little worlds last month leading into “Daily Affirmations” asks what about him would make you think he’d give a fuck about your opinion on him. The soul sample prominently shown throughout “Listen” rattles off his experiences over the course of Father Time itself, but then “D&A” eerily gives a glimpse of his DNA.
As for “I Am Him”, we have Shy the Beat Yoda himself ruggedly flexes his lyrical prowess over a thunderous boom bap beat while “I’m the Muthafuckin’ Man” featuring Skanks the Rap Martyr sees the 2 talking about their high class statuses. “The Fam Jam” groovily pays homage to all his family while “Problem Solvers” featuring Franchise reunites both of them to talk about being able to fix any issue that they come across.
“Better Than You” starts the encore of The Contingency Plan with Shylow hooking up these prominent organs instrumentally confidently boasting that he’s lyrically superior to anyone else who wants to step up to him on the mic at the end of the day & the closer “The Hate Song” wraps up the founding Bomb Shelta Association member’s official solo debut telling the story of his right hand & eventually his left hand.
An extremely personal body of work, The Contingency Plan was not a part of what Shy had planned for this year & a recent event in his life forced his hand & what he has described as the album before the album is one that’s been a very long time in the making. His production that he handled all by himself mind you homages the old school era that raised him & he really doesn’t hold back on everything that’s happened in the last 365 days.
Score: 8/10
