Album review # 4

Artist- Lushlife

Title- Cassette city

It’s funny what you could come across on the internet. From hardcore porn to free programs, we meet variables ranging from the good, the bad and ugly. This time I’m dealing with the good. When I first got Lushlife’s cassette city, I wasn’t sure of what to expect-downloading albums from obscure artists has only 2 possibilities for the listener and the unlucky ones tend to waste 15 minutes of their lives downloading an hour of garbage. Well, in this case I fall amongst the lucky few. I actually tried doing a bit of research on this Lushlife cat, searched on wiki but couldn’t get anything but his my-space page. All I can say is FRESH, the beats are FRESH, Innovative, it’s like a mix of genres in one and the icing on the cake is Double L’s (as I would refer to him throughout the review) flawless cadence with a semi auto approach.

I come clean aint no baseball cap fitted

I rap wicked stick up kids in 86, now we act different

Am motivating the crowd like honey glaze

Plus am Getting mine, light up the stage like sunny days

Got your whole girl histrionics, whipping the block

And listening to stetasonic

Yeah am hooked on phonics , black and weary hooked on hydro ponics

But I got a reason to blow out smoke but am only dropping knowledge

That’s just the short intro, riding on a lush back-ground, this simply takes the listener into Double L’s cassette city. The first 2 cuts are str8 up blazing, daylight into me is a high octane banger while the latter “The Kindness” relies on a smooth soul sample which gravitate the listener into a state of audio pleasure. Quoting the lyrics wouldn’t do justice to Double L, you just have to listen to catch the drift

Besides rapping, Double L is also an instrumentalist with a piano training spanning over a decade!! The next cut is an instrumental(part 1 of 3) which is placed at intervals throughout the lp and I tell you,these beats are not some slap a vocal sample here,a bass there and kick type arrangement-they sound like something out of the future which shows the kind of hybrid concepts this cat employs from time to time.

Another word for paradise features CAMP LO(why do I gravitate to lps featuring this guys all the time,lol) and has a bouncy feel to it, smooth cut you should rock to while cruising down the block.

Until the sun dies reminds me of an 80s song which I can’t seem to remember, it employs a vocal sample for the hook with heavy bass backdrops giving it a trippy atmosphere-changes the pace a little.”The songbird athletic” is another sureshot, comes with carribean horns-laid back cut. The next “In soft focus” is one of my favourites, built on a fast paced drum pattern plus a luscious female vocal sample swirling around it and ending by scratching the slick rick sample used in OC’s “time’s up”,this leads to the single bottle rocket which has a call and response type hook

Spit fire, leviate us all night, bottle rocket

Lushlife, ready to bust mics for bottle rocket

Every-body stand up watching the show, watching the flow

bottle rocket watching it go

At just 37mins plus long, this is quite a short debut album for a new artist (reminds me of....).In conclusion, it’s a solid effort. Double L holds his own on all the tracks and even the presence of vets like Camp lo don’t hold him back .In fact Double L displays his vocal braggadocio on almost every track, which is not a bad thing and his beats...his beats are FRESH. His musical influences spreads across a wide spectrum which broadens the scope on his album. Another thing I noticed is dude has a knack of naming his songs weird titles (e.g fall of the light brigade? daylight into me?? Until the sun dies ???lol).In conclusion,you can’t get bored with this lp,the artist in questions keeps changing the environment every now and then while keeping the passion in the flow constant. If you don’t have this lp now,am wondering what you are waiting for?

Recommended listen- The kindness, another word for paradise, the songbird athletic, in soft focus, bottle rocket

DOWNLOAD IT NOW

ALBUM REVIEW # 3

Artist- PRAVERB THE WYSE

Title-  CENTER OF ATTENTION

 Producers- teddy roxpin, cold logistics, dj keor, streetwise, destro, agonist

 Guest vocals- Trinidad

       As a staunch myspace user, I usually interact with gazillions of artists who claim to be the next big thing to hit planet earth. The unfortunate thing is some actually possess the skill to verify such claims while others are simply the opposite. This review is not about the artist in question but the listener which is YOU. We the fans have long been relegated to the background, rappers no longer make music for the fans like back in the day and in most cases the said rapper might even start off his album dissing US(e.g “yeah,this is for all you d$%k heads listening to my new joint...”)   

          I admit the fact that am a newbie to Praverb’s music-and for the record don’t confuse him for south Africa’s PROVERB (another dope MC)- and am the kind of person who at 1^st listen can judge whether something is worth listening to in the long run and this here is actually worth it and its FREE!!!!

   Starting off with the PERFECT INTRO, proverb summarises “the reason-behind” what he does, he doesn’t go off point rambling about the state of hip-hop (like we don’t know..duh!!) but rather his own state of mind ,his views and he also talks a lil’ about the American complacency. Check some of the lyrics

 "I’m tired of seeing these youngings die

Tired of seeing mother’s cry

All we can do is be like Kanye and Touch the Sky

Yeah, I just want to let these words connect

So I can be real and get it off my chest

I live in the States, I be dealing with stress

But my fan overseas be dealing with death

Rockets fly, troops probably occupy his space

He doesn’t have time to stop and cry"

 

A very nice way to jump start the lp,riding on a smooth violin type instrument courtesy of cold logistics-works pretty well.

    Next up is BACK IN THE DAYS-and all I gotta say is those strings man!!! And the subject matter, though ain’t new-but it’s nice to hear a different point of view from this rapper. DEAD 2 SIN-if am permitted to call it a quintessential gospel joint(Gospel Mc’s should take a cue from this),it doesn’t come out forced, tired or boring-first off the beat is PHAT and again Praverb shows you “the reason-behind”  his music.

   FREEDOM TO PREVAIL is a favourite, nicely constructed by TEDDY ROXPIN(I used to love that cartoon back when I was a young un,lol) praverb starts off with this quotable

“Life be the topic, if I live it then I jot it,

Baptized in aquatics like the lochness

neck stretched like an ostrich

viewing  the land, pursuing his will, influencing fans remaining conscious

When I drop in, its dopeness, syringe filled with hope kid

My words be the medicine provide a proper dosage”

  Dude even said “who cares if p spits to himself”-some of us do, this is the kind of music we need nowadays bruh!!.

 RAIN and GRIND are back to back cuts that deal with life, strife and what have you. Worth listening to if I must add. TATIANNA is a nice story about a girl who aspires to be a model but falls prey to a scheming porn producer (listen to the joint to find out about the ending).YOU KNOW ME is another tight joint and proverb keeps it “real” by saying

“..attack the beat with my ability, nobody feeling me

Because I haven’t been shot, no street credibility.”

  That’s some shit your average MC wouldn’t say (besides kanye and Lupe).ORDINARY DAY is a jazzy type beat,reminds me of Nas’s “world is yours” and P kicks verses about a typical day at the mall trying to market his cd’s to strangers!! This is a first, I aint never heard another MC talk about a day at the mall!! The last cut TRADING PLACES produced by Dj kear(who also did the aforementioned ORDINARY DAY) laces a sinister background for P to kick rhymes  about issues at his former workplace .

 “With steady discipline, when I grip the pen

Am like Mr rivera, the relief is here

Bringing Ill rhymes- to a speaker near you

Sometimes I wanna bleach my skin

 -Do we speak the same language- sometimes I wanna trade places

I wanna spend a day in your shoes; you could spend a day in my timberland boots

  Hopping on the train in a business suit

 I get paid every week, I get all the loot

I arrive at work, sip a cup of  joe

Hop around the office, say wassap to the folks

I look at my computer screen, am living it up

This is a dream, am not giving it up”

 

..anyway dude gets fired, dude flips out and gets thrown out of the building by security, Freedom of speech at its best and Praverb doesn’t shy away from his religious background at instances .He keeps dropping subliminal messages every bar or two and he manages not to bore you with a gospel over kill which works well because at the end of the day, this is an hip-hop album. Not underground, not mainstream or left field, just a day in the life of an MC called Praverb. I recommend this for people who think outside the box, P keeps it simple so don’t expect super tongue twisting rhyme schemes that would leave your cerebral cortex sore, think GZA and you would get the picture. The reason behind this music is the message, who is he targeting? What is he aiming for? And the funny thing is the CENTRE OF ATTENTION isn’t even the mc in question...it is YOU-the listener.

 

Recommended listen- BACK IN THE DAYS, FREEDOM TO PREVAIL, DEAD 2 SIN, I GRIND YOU GRIND, ORDINARY DAY

 DOWNLOAD IT NOW