Album: Nef The Pharaoh – The Big Chang Theory

The Effervescent Vallejo Emcee Asserts His Place as the Leader of the Bay’s New School with His Most Accomplished Project Yet, Premiered by Noisey

8.13.2018

Critical Praise:

“It’s been nearly three years since Nef The Pharaoh took the Bay Area by storm with his breakout hit ‘Big Tymin’.’ Since then, under the tutelage of E-40, the South Vallejo rapper has become an ambassador of the region in his own right, championing artists like SOB X RBE, OMB Peezy, and others.” – The FADER

20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2016 – Neffy Got Wings (#3) – FACT

2016 was the West Coast’s time to shine, and few rappers shined as brightly as Nef – FACT

“Neffy Got Wings is the album of the week” – Stereogum

“…the best rapper from Vallejo since the last great rapper from Vallejo” – Jeff Weiss

“…as a rapper, [Nef the Pharaoh] lets the energy lead and the bars follow, boasting and flexing with the kinds of memorable banalities that make up some of hip-hop’s best yet least-celebrated moments.” –Pitchfork

“Nef The Pharaoh is the Bay Area’s next up.” – HotNewHipHop

“Nef the Pharaoh runs neck-and-neck with Kodak Black as the most promising up-and-coming rapper who can’t yet rent a car.” – SPIN

“There may be no rapper working right now who brings more good cheer and positive vibes than Vallejo’s Nef the Pharaoh” – Noisey

The Album:

First emerging as a teenager with the Bay Area hit “Big Tymin’,” Vallejo’s Nef The Pharaoh firmly established himself as one of the region’s most exciting emcees. After building up his artistic and commercial bonafides with a series of popular mixtapes, three acclaimed EPs, and several singles crossing the 1,000,000+ total streams mark, the KILFMB chief shares The Big Chang Theory, his debut studio album. Showing off his skills over glistening Bay Area beats, Nef flexes on his success, stunts on lesser emcees, and brags about his rhyming prowess , but also finds the time to reflect on his past, to ruminate on social issues such as police violence. Praised by Noisey, who raved “it’s a joyous, melodic project with the old school, timeless feel we’ve come to expect from Nef the Pharaoh. Do yourself a favor and play this in a car as soon as physically possible,” The Big Chang Theory contains the relentless fun of the previous efforts, but displays a heightened maturity, as Nef takes the time to reflect on responsibilities as a young father and on improving the world he lives in.

The new project hosts the highlight track “Big Boss Chang,” which has over 880k plays on Spotify and recently premiered a video via The FADER, and the new single “86,” featuring ALLBLACK and Cuban Doll, which debuted last week via Complex. Featuring additional appearances from Dej Loaf, OMB Peezy, JT The 4th and more, The Big Chang Theory arrives via KILFMB / Sick Wid It / EMPIRE.

Breaking through with his self-titled 2015 EP and its hit single “Big Tymin‘,” the 23-year-old Nef The Pharaoh quickly established himself as one of the most unique and popular emcees in the Bay. Signed to E-40’s Sick Wid It Records, the charismatic emcee is a fixture on regional radio, releasing an acclaimed collaborative EP with Cardo Got Wingz (Kendrick Lamar, Drake) in 2016 and hitting in 2017 with the single “Bling Blaow,” which features Slimmy B of SOB x RBE. Earlier this summer, Nef shared Porter2Grape, an action-packed 5-track collaborative EP with L.A. rapper 03 Greedo. Featuring appearances from ALLBLACK and singer Chris O’Bannon, the blistering EP, featuring the single “Ball Out” and the Pitchfork Best New Track “Blow-Up Bed,“ is currently available for stream and purchase via EMPIRE.

Buy/Stream The Big Chang Theory:

SmartURL: https://Empire.lnk.to/TheBigChangTheory
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-big-chang-theory/1415129927?ls=1&app=itunes
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nefidelaphante/sets/the-big-chang-theory/

Check out the Noisey premiere: https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/d3e5wz/nef-the-pharaoh-the-big-chang-theory-stream-listen-premiere

The Big Chang Theory tracklist:

1. Heads Up (ft. OMB Peezy)
2. Lefty
3. A (ft. JT The 4th)
4. Boostin
5. Big Boss Chang
6. 86 (ft. ALLBLACK & Cuban Doll)
7. Huh (ft. Yakki)
8. Knock Down A Fan
9. What We Have (ft. Dej Loaf)
10. Tokyo Driftin (ft. Raymond McMahon)
11. Bsisso
12. Totally Different
13. That Was God (ft. Jay Brown & Lesia Brown)

https://soundcloud.com/nefidelaphante/sets/the-big-chang-theory/

Please contact Michelle for more info.

The Background:

Praised by Jeff Weiss as “the best rapper from Vallejo since the last great rapper from Vallejo,” the legend Mac Dre being his predecessor, 21 -year-old Nef The Pharaoh is one of the Bay Area’s most exciting young emcees. Signed to E-40‘s Sick Wid It Records, Nef The Pharaoh delivered his debut retail release, a self-titled EP, in November 2015 to high critical praise. Featuring the breakthrough radio hit “Big Tymin’,” which charted at #34 on San Francisco’s 106 KMEL‘s Top 106 Songs of 2015 and earned more than 7.7 million views on YouTube, the Nef The Pharaoh EP firmly established the rapper on the national scene. Nef followed his breakthrough project by joining producer Cardo for Neffy Got Wings, a collaborative EP which released in January, and by accompanying G-Eazy, A$AP Ferg, and Marc E. Bassy on the national When It’s Dark Out Tour. Nef followed up the EP with Fresh Outta Space 3, a “very Bay Area-y” mixtape that turned heads with its synthesis of regional sounds. In 2017, Nef released The Chang Project, featuring the hit single “Bling Blaow,” performed at Rolling Loud Bay Area and Rolling Loud Southern California and collaborated with OMB Peezy, SOB x RBE, and many more. His next project, The Boss Chang Theory, releases in 2018.