The need to stay relevant may be why rapper Reks never attained a cult following. The highlight of his rapping career came with his debut album Along Came The Chosen, released back in 2001.

During the past seven years, he has spent most of his time away from the studios, reconciling with his wife and son — a significant change that saw his hype meter fall off the scale completely.

Attempting to give it another try, Reks comes sprinting out the gates with Grey Hairs. Reks, a native of Lawrence, Mass., is clearly influenced by the mid 90s sensation of raw hip-hop culture that spread from New York to the rest of the country.

Though the bulk of Grey Hairs is produced by Statik Selektah, Reks gets a chance to prove his lyricism over the beats of legendary producers DJ Premier and Large Professor.

On “Say Goodnight,” Reks goes through multiple subjects, including his discontent for phony rappers and his legacy as an emcee, singing “I’m top ten dead or alive.”

This same gritty demeanor can be found on “All In One (5 Mics),” a track that highlights pure hip-hop at its finest. Resurrecting late rap legends, Reks recreates the lyrical flows of Tupac, Big Pun, Notorious B.I.G. and Big L. With his seamless transitions between personas, it’s clear that each of these rappers has had a profound impact on Reks, and that he likely spent a lot of time in front the mirror copying them at a young age.

The guest features on Grey Hairs are sparse, yet they all help the album. The rapper shares the microphone alongside Consequence and Termanology on “Premonition,” as the trio speaks about their decisions to change their lives for the better.

As an ode to his mother, Reks paints an inspirational picture on “Cry Baby.” Over a soft soul-sampled melody, he revisits how his mom overcame many adversities, including being a single parent, her drug addictions and his incessant failure to help. You can’t help but feel empathy for her; a nod to Reks’ story telling abilities.

At 19 tracks, the album inevitably has a few simply passing tracks. But even on these, Reks puts his undeniable passion to rap on display, an attribute that, at most, a handful of rappers can emulate these days.

With the album titled Grey Hairs, Reks may assume getting older entails a decline in lyrical quality, though, his performance tells a different story.