Album Review: Pivot Gang – You Can’t Sit With Us

Jorge Sanchez | Posted on October 01, 2019

You Can’t Sit With Us – Pivot Gang

I finally get to talk about one of my favorite albums of 2019. Pivot Gang dropped their long-awaited project You Can’t Sit With Us back in April of this year. Many fans, including myself, have been patiently waiting for the collective to release a group project. Now it’s my turn to share my thoughts on this project.

Pivot Gang – “You Can’t Sit With Us”: My Review

For those who don’t know, Pivot Gang is a collective of rappers and producers from the westside of Chicago consisting of members Saba, Joseph Chilliams, MFnMelo, SqueakPIVOT, Frsh Waters, daedaePIVOT, and former member John Walt who passed away back in February of 2017. The group came off a successful year in 2018 since Saba’s widely praised album Care for Me skyrocketed the group’s success. The album landed on many end of the year “best of” lists. With the additional release of the single Blood in late 2018, all eyes were on Saba and Pivot Gang.

Personally, I was very excited when the album was officially confirmed. I was very interested in what direction the group would take this project. With the release of their singles such as Jason Statham, Pt. 2, Studio Ground Rules, and Bad Boys my excitement grew more as I was confident the collective had something special in the works. The album is 13 tracks long and just a little over 40-minutes in length. Not a single track feels unnecessary on the album and they each showcase the strengths of every member in the group.

After my first initial listen, I was surprised in the approach the group took in the making of this album. I first believed that the album would be centered around Saba’s lyrical abilities, but I was pleasantly wrong. For most of the album, Joseph Chilliams, MFnMelo, and Frsh Waters are the stand out stars. This is not to say that Saba’s presence is not heard throughout the album- he has some great verses and assists beautifully on the chorus on many tracks.

Stand out tracks like “Colbert,” “Mortal Kombat,” “Bible,” and “Carnival” really showcase the group’s unique style with punching verses followed by melodic choruses. These tracks are great examples that show there is so much talent within the group.

This project was so much fun to listen to and seems to get better with every listen- even 4 months after its initial release. The album feels perfectly constructed with fun, melodic, and lyrical tracks that have a little of something for everyone. Simply put, this project sounds like a bunch of friends coming together to record an album that showcases all their abilities while having fun.

Shout out to Pivot Gang!

Favorite Tracks: Colbert, Mortal Kombat, Bad Boys, Bible, No Vest, and Jason Statham Pt. 2

Rating: 9/10