Longtime cohorts Casey Veggies and Rockie Fresh feed off of one another's energy on the full-on flex mode album Fresh Veggies 2 – the follow up to their 2013 mixtape Fresh Veggies. After firing off cuts like "Demeanor", "Miss My Dawgs" and a one-off number called "Made For It" earlier this year, Veggies & Fresh undock their 14-track full-length project for hungry playlisters to dig into.
Formed from the pair's unabashed bravado and a crate full of swollen trap-beats that are sure to shake even the heaviest Chevy, the Chi-town-to-L.A. connect sound at-ease sharing the mic. While their overall vibe leans more towards the slick and smoked-out, both men successfully manage to convey a sense of driving ambition on album highlights like "Young Rockstars", a heavy stepping march called "Walking Accomplishment" (featuring an assist from Wale), and a growling anthem titled "M.O.B". Album opener "Sin" initially feels a little out of place in its introductory position, due to its reflective and somewhat meditative tone. But repeat listenings of the LP reveal it to be a sort of calm-before-the-storm tune that gives us a chance to reconnect with Rockie and Casey before the show gets revved up. "Selfish", which features fellow hip-hoppers 24hrs and Reo Cragun, is a first-class bop that deserves to be all over the airwaves, and the buttery "Time Machine/Numb To Hate (Interlude)" seems tailor-made for a late-summer/back-to-school mixtape. Fresh & Veggies bring things full circle with the previously mentioned "Miss My Dawgs (Long Live Nip)", which is a reflective liquor-pour dedicated to the late Nipsey Hussle and other loved ones who have died way too soon.
In the same vein as some of trap music's most memorable campaigns, Fresh Veggies 2 keeps to a tried and true recipe: eardrum-pop production and boisterous rhymes tied together with cavalier charisma. And while that can easily lead to a pitfall of monotony for many rap acts, Casey Veggies and Rockie Fresh successfully manage to sound fresh and new on their effort.
You can check out Fresh Veggies 2 on all streaming services via PNCINTL Records.
