RANGE
Search
Close this search box.
Pressa

Pressa Buckles Up and Doubles Down On 'Gardner Express' Redux

The Toronto rapper continues to show off his versatility while bridging musical worlds.

by Ben Boddez

Nearly a year after dropping his Gardener Express EP, Toronto rapper Pressa has doubled the run-time of his major label debut with a very necessary deluxe version. The release is loaded with seven more tracks, putting his versatility on full display. Seemingly ahead of the curve with his unique brand of high-pitched, breathless flows that Playboi Carti famously dubbed the “baby voice,” Pressa is most often found dominating bass-heavy trap beats but already made some inroads with the UK scene and the thunderous wave of New York drill with his last Gardner Express iteration.

His latest additions come with some more dynamic and cartoonish instrumentals, a great selection of features to bounce his unique delivery off of, and bars about street life with a distinctly Canadian twist. In a standout line from “Chocolate Audemar,” he even mocks his stateside victims not being able to get the premium healthcare available to him in the Great White North. 

Pressa often lets his guests take the mic first, and it has a tremendous effect. It’s all the more invigorating to hear someone with his laid-back and unassuming vocal tone come in issuing threats on the same level after someone like Rowdy Rebel or Swae Lee – who surprisingly sounds like a baritone in comparison – sets the track ablaze with a barrage of syllables. Pressa’s current romantic partner Coi Leray couldn’t have possibly been a better artistic match either, appearing on a remix of single “Attachments” with the same flippant staccato sound. Just as the concept of the album finds Pressa imagining a high-speed motorway connecting Los Angeles and Toronto, he continues to bridge hip-hop’s diverse worlds with his latest.

Best Track: Dead Body (Ft. Rowdy Rebel)