It’s a little difficult to keep up with all the Justus League affiliated releases these days, as one comes out almost every two to three weeks, which is rather unfortunate considering that means you have to pick and choose which ones to purchase, while simultaneously trying to keep up with the rest of the hip-hop release schedule. On the flip side, with all the talented production coming out of the League and the state of North Carolina in general, it’s guaranteed that you’re going to get above par beats, regardless of who’s spitting on them. Edgar Allen Floe’s True Links is no exception to this rule either, with dope contributions from Little Brother’s 9th Wonder, The Away Team’s Khrysis, Illmind, DJ Forge and more. Despite the ratio of producers involved to total tracks, True Links maintains a suprising sonic cohesiveness, which is more a credit to the producers than to Edgar Allen’s flows. Whether it’s the swinging, upbeat horns provided by DJ Forge on “The Formula 2005″, the thumping drums and uplifting vocal sample supplied by Illmind on “I For An I” or the hopeful crooning and anxious loop on 9th Wonder’s “Faith In Love”, Edgar was blessed with an incredible sonic foundation.

    Depending on your patience or perspective, Mr. Floe’s True Links is either a decent, and promising, debut for an artist in his career’s infancy or a fairly monotonous listen; one that could have been aided by a bit of versatility in cadence and tone, or perhaps supplemented by more guest vocalists. It’s not that Edgar doesn’t bring it when you look at the micro and not the macro, as each song song is solid when considered  solely by itself. The problem arises when the album is ingested as a whole and each of its subsequent parts is recognized as a clone of the last. 

    Long story short: by purchasing True Links, you’re investing in a fairly low-risk, high-return rapper stock pick that’ll soon come into his own, especially if his follow-up has half the production contained on this release. Not there quite yet, but definitely on his way. Think of this as his NBDL outing and expect those solid NBA minutes in the near future.