The Outfit, TX revs up the engine on "Fuel City"
Written by Waylon O'Day
Dallas has always played second fiddle to Houston when it comes to the hip-hop culture. However, that trend may have reason to begin reversing. In light of the recent exposure the city has seen in the way of the Tay-K wave, some other artists saw the increased visibility as an opportunity to show off the city’s unique brand hip-hop which is perfectly encapsulated in the form of The Outfit, TX. The three-man group, consisting of Dorian, Mel, and Jay, have created their own style which is equal parts Sauce Twinz, Ying Yang Twins, and old school crunk music, and they flex their skills on their newest project, the ten-track Fuel City.
Coming in at just under forty-minutes, the project makes quite the impression, as the Outfit, TX has long been on the periphery of the Texas rap scene, but in ten tracks the group gives all that listen to cause to take notice. “Big Splash,” opens the album, and you could be mistaken for thinking that Sancho Saucy and Sauce Walka were the ones behind the mic, albeit with some drastically improved lyricism. “Phone Line” features some of the more infectious productions and hooks; however the auto-tune is literally dropping off this track, and at times becomes unbearable.
The first of three tracks with features, “Goin’ Up,” featuring C.Struggs evokes Lil Jon from his heyday, all of the MCs don’t appear to be taking the track too seriously, but it doesn’t matter because it’s still exciting and is bound to get you a little hyped up. “Baby’nem,” featuring Landstrip Chip has one of the coolest beats on this project, it’s very slick and glossy, yet extremely bouncy. This song is going to find some play in Dallas’ gentleman clubs. Regardless of where you are from and how you feel about the Cowboys, “Dez Bryant” is an undeniable hit for this trio. From the intro, this song is impossible not to move your whole body to, and The Outfit’s ability to adapt their flows to this constant movement makes one question why sometimes they hide their differing deliveries under dense layers of production.
“Told That Bih” might be my favorite track from this project, it doesn’t have the best production. Honestly, it makes me kind of anxious with what sounds like tornado sirens circling constantly, but the aggressiveness that the beat approached with is perfect. “Look Crazy,” a six-minute song, could’ve been cut down to three minutes, leaving the spacey, smoked out section of the song intact, the first three minutes are worth hearing once, and that’s about it. “Imsumnia” is a quality track, the beat is probably the least overproduced, which is definitely a high-point for the project. The final track “Really Off,” featuring Dorian, is the perfect way to close out this project. The beat is a classic trap production, the hook is catchy and impossible not to learn by the end of the song, and the way they transition from verse to hook, and vice versa, is something I wish I got more of over the course of this project.
Overall, there’s a lot to build on, both positives and negatives, the overproduction probably being the most glaring negative, however the chemistry exhibited by all three MCs is likely to be this group’s strongest asset. Its apparent that these guys have put a lot of hours into the studio together, just not as many as their producer clearly has. Fuel City is an enjoyable project, but it is not something that I would say is an Album of the Year Candidate. However, the Outfit, TX is still probably one of the better groups that is coming out of the Dallas area, and Texas for that matter, so the only destination for these guys is up.
Stream The Project below