Your Majesty finds Isaiah Toothtaker relaxed—cruising over hazy, laid-back summertime productions from Meaty Ogre. At this point, Toothtaker raps like he has nothing left to prove. And maybe he doesn't. He's fully established as a musician and tattoo artist, and his first book of drawings has just been published by Spork Press (more on that in City Week on page 14)—hence, the title Your Majesty.
"Player of the Year" and "Summer Weather" work on two levels. The echoing R&B derived tracks, augmented with electro synth squiggles and the equally spacious flow of Toothtaker, keeps falling over itself until reaching the imperial grace of some of Tupac Shakur's breezier songs. But instead of finding comfort in fond memories of yesteryear, Toothtaker just lives in the present moment, which seems to be his own coronation. And he makes a very good case for such a lofty proclamation.
The one-two punch of "& It's Like That" and "Everyday Hustle" are Your Majesty's highlights. The latter is propulsive and as edgy as Toothtaker gets here—all rat-tat-tat-tat drums and mechanized lyrics. "& It's Like That" is defined by a nodding pace and grandiose sprawl. Over a droning synth that splits the difference between a muffled shriek and a muffled whistle, the rapper intones "it's like this and like that" as though he's falling into a dream, entrenched in a singular time and place where the world is just for him and all his dreams come true.
