$ilkmoney WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO...
$ilkmoney's WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO... arrives as a daring, linguistically wild statement that pairs existential reckoning with production experimentation. Across three professional reviews the consensus recognizes a record where psychedelic textures, spoken-word samples, and compressed chipmunk-soul flourishes frame dense lyricism and Black radical thought. Critics agree the album's tension between solitude and sociopolitical critique gives it weight, and that its best songs deliver both verbal risk and emotional clarity.
Reviewers consistently point to standout tracks as evidence: “PROLLY WOULDN’T BE HERE IF WE WOULDA BEEN KILLED THAT NIGGA KING BACH” and “OOOPS, HONEY I SHRUNK MYSELF WITH THE HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS RAY MACHINE AND CRAWLED INTO YOUR DICKHOLE BY ACCIDENT” receive repeated praise for marrying dark humour, brazen bars, and candid introspection, while “THE $400 CHEESEBURGER FROM THE WINDOW SHOPPER VIDEO WAS JUST A BIG MAC” and “THE JURY DUTY SEAFOOD BOILBAG FROM THE LYFE JENNINGS PAPERWORK PARTY” are noted for inventive production lifts. The collection earned an 80/100 consensus score across 3 professional reviews, with critics noting that the record rewards repeat listens even when its density can feel trying.
Taken together, the critical consensus frames the album as a compelling, sometimes vexing follow-up that foregrounds language play, drug-use imagery, and Black liberation themes. While some reviewers flag moments of excess, most praise $ilkmoney's willingness to risk vulnerability and to push production ideas, leaving the record positioned as a provocative, worth-listening entry in his catalog and a set of tracks that likely contain the best songs on the album.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
PROLLY WOULDN’T BE HERE IF WE WOULDA BEEN KILLED THAT NIGGA KING BACH
2 mentions
"nowhere is his vintage mix of dark humour and uncompromising sociopolitics more homogenous than on ‘Prolly Wouldn’t Be Here If We Woulda Been Killed That N***a King Bach’"— The Quietus
OOOPS, HONEY I SHRUNK MYSELF WITH THE HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS RAY MACHINE AND CRAWLED INTO YOUR DICKHOLE BY ACCIDENT
2 mentions
"few brazen bars on ‘Ooops, Honey I Shrunk Myself With The Honey I Shrunk The Kids Ray Machine And Crawled Into Your Dickhole By Accident’"— The Quietus
THE $400 CHEESEBURGER FROM THE WINDOW SHOPPER VIDEO WAS JUST A BIG MAC
3 mentions
"Drugs aren't fun on ‘The $400 Cheeseburger From The Window Shopper Video Was Just A Big Mac – _ -’; they’re a gateway to solitude and nihilism"— The Quietus
nowhere is his vintage mix of dark humour and uncompromising sociopolitics more homogenous than on ‘Prolly Wouldn’t Be Here If We Woulda Been Killed That N***a King Bach’
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCPOPIC(NOBODY)SILICOVOLCANOBONIOSIS
WELL I'LL BE A MONKEY'S UNCLE
OOOPS, HONEY I SHRUNK MYSELF WITH THE HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS RAY MACHINE AND CRAWLED INTO YOUR DICKHOLE BY ACCIDENT
A WHALE IS ONLY AS BLUE AS YOU IT IS, SO, ITS 2
WE SNUCK THE HAMMER IN THE TUNNEL AND DIN EEN NEED TO
PROLLY WOULDN’T BE HERE IF WE WOULDA BEEN KILLED THAT NIGGA KING BACH
BIGFATJELLYDACHILIDAAAWG LUVAHLUVAH
FIRST I GIVE UP, THEN I GIVE IN, THEN I GIVE ALL
I'VE BEEN DOING THIS THING ALL WRONG THE WHOLE TIME, THAT'S CRAZY, HOLUP
FUUUUCK, BABY. YOU'RE JUST SO SEXY WHEN YOU'RE TERRIFIED
THERE ARE HILLS AND MOUNTAINS BETWEEN US, ALWAYS SOMETHING TO GET OVER
THE $400 CHEESEBURGER FROM THE WINDOW SHOPPER VIDEO WAS JUST A BIG MAC
THE JURY DUTY SEAFOOD BOILBAG FROM THE LYFE JENNINGS PAPERWORK PARTY
NEVER TRUST A BITCH THA- *EXPLODES*
THE UNNERVING PRESENSE OF THE BLACK HAND
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 3 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
$ilkmoney sounds like he is finally willing to risk vulnerability on WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO..., and the best songs - notably “Prolly Wouldn’t Be Here If We Woulda Been Killed That N***a King Bach” and “Ooops, Honey I Shrunk Myself With The Honey I Shrunk The Kids Ray Machine And Crawled Into Your Dickhole By Accident” - prove why. Damien Holsters writes with clipped, incisive praise: the former is where his dark humour and sociopolitics cohere, the latter hits when he clearly cares, his brazen bars cutting through like close combat. The record’s strongest moments couple refined Soulquarians-style production with candid introspection, making these tracks the best songs on the album by delivering both heat and heart.
Key Points
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The best song is the King Bach track because it fuses dark humour with sharp sociopolitical critique.
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The album’s core strengths are candid introspection paired with refined, Soulquarians-tinged production.
Themes
Critic's Take
$ilkmoney stays obsessive over language on Who Waters the Wilting Giving Tree Once the Leaves Dry Up and Fruits No Longer Bear? and the best tracks - especially “Ooops, Honey I Shrunk Myself with the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Ray and Crawled into Your Dickhole by Accident” and “Prolly Wouldn’t Be Here If We Woulda Been Killed That N*gga King Bach” - show him at full tilt, double-time and venomous. Steve Erickson’s tone is appreciative and analytic, noting that the production and chipmunk-soul flourishes elevate songs like “The $400 Cheeseburger from the Window Shopper Was Just A Big Mac” too, making those songs standouts. The review emphasizes the interplay of dense lyricism, disorienting samples, and soft drums as the reason these tracks qualify as the best on the album. Overall the critic frames the album as a fierce, sometimes trying but compelling statement where the best songs combine technical skill with startling production choices.
Key Points
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The best song(s) pair $ilkmoney’s dense, double-time lyricism with disorienting, chipmunk-soul production to create standout tracks.
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The album’s core strengths are its dense wordplay, commanding presence, and adventurous production that blends boom bap, R&B, and psychedelic effects.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Richmond provocateur $ilkmoney makes a case for the best tracks on WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO... by leaning on verbal pyrotechnics and bracing intimacy. The album’s top moments, like “PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCPOPIC(NOBODY)SILICOVOLCANOBONIOSIS” and “The Jury Duty Seafood Boil Bag From the Lyfe Jennings Paperwork Party”, hit with wrecking-ball momentum and precise, dizzying couplets. Across songs such as “A Whale Is Only as Blue as You Say It Is, So, It’s 2” and “First I Give Up, Then I Give In, Then I Give All” he pivots from fist-shaking incredulity to intimate confession, which is why those tracks stand out. This record rewards repeat listens for its language-stretching delights and its uneasy, realistic view of solitude and systems.
Key Points
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The best song is the opener for its jaw-dropping verbal pyrotechnics and breathless delivery.
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The album’s core strengths are linguistic daring and a shift from raw wrecking-ball energy to uneasy, intimate reflection.