Joell Ortiz – Monday

Joell Ortiz releases new album titled ‘Monday’.

Joell Ortiz isn’t interested in seeming like a superhero. His new album for Mello Music Group, ‘Monday,’ is an album about keeping your head down and getting back to work; there’s nothing to do other than to persevere.

With his new record, Ortiz pays tribute to the qualities that have allowed him to not only survive, but thrive in an unforgiving industry and era. “Monday refers to the idea that no matter how big you get, the hustle to stay on top is always there,” he says. “Monday is the first day to get out and grind.” That urgency can be felt all over the album, from the swaggering “Champion” to the furious opening cut, “Captain.”

Beyond and beneath that unifying theme, Monday is littered with Ortiz’s trademark wordplay and verbal pyrotechnics, once again affirming him as one of the rappers most dedicated to the types of lyricism that marked rap’s golden ages.

Even while he’s keeping his nose to the grindstone, Ortiz finds a few moments to exhale and reflect. Monday ends with a pair of such songs: “Momma,” a heartfelt ode to the parent who raised Ortiz, and “Grammy,” which rejects the notion that outside validation is needed to qualify a music career as successful.

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