“You can keep all the accolades — all I want is my funds stacked accurate.” –Plaga
Brooklyn, New York, has — over the years — given birth to an endless supply of hip-hop artists that appear to be cut from a different cloth; perhaps there’s something in the water. More realistically, though, this is due to the degree to which hip-hop seems to have engulphed and worked to build itself into the very fabric of the borough. For this reason, the allure to pick up the microphone would be understandably infectious, at least that’s how born and raised BK resident Prestigious Lyrical Assassin Governing All, which is shortened into the acronym PLAGA, would describe it. The emcee began his hip-hop odyssey at the young age of 13 and has been dedicated to the craft ever since. He started a group with a friend called Sharp Shooters; after impressing his uncle, who was a hip-hop DJ, with their collective skills, he began to frequent studios and cross paths with notable figures in the game — opportunities seemed to be popping up everywhere. After a set-back [four years of jail-time] Plaga hit the ground running with his latest mixtape series Lyrical Fitness, that are serving as a platform for him to flex his pen game over industry beats while simultaneously strumming interest in his full-length project which is imminent.
The fourteen-song effort sees Plaga ripping beats that range from Fabolous’ “Breathe,” Dipset’s “I Really Mean It,” and much more. Off the top, he has bars. His background of street-corner cyphers in BK has helped develop his punchy rhyme scheme that’s straight to the point, and full of allusion-filled raps that don’t let up. They almost come off like 16 hit combos rather than verses. From paying homage to fallen soldiers on “Homage Paid,” or shitting on radio rappers on “Airplay,” Plaga delivers a substantial collection of joints — as a first-time listeners, it was a sufficient intro to what he has going for him. His cadence vaguely resembles Cassidy — albeit vaguely — which I’m sure a hater or two may want to bring up, but Plaga has a lane all his own.
This is that New York City mixtape hip-hop; that shit that makes for memorable daytime movements — and sweaty window down summer night blunt sessions on the Ave. Plaga sounds polished, confident. He’s a self-professed ghostwriter, so there’s a likelihood that you may have heard him already; maybe, more than you know. Regardless, he’s been moulded by one of the most thorough boroughs, and he’s ready to take it from the big apple to the globe. Add this mixtape to your playlist, and keep an eye out for his label, record label F.A.C. Ent (a.k.a. Family Always Concurs Ent.
