Talib Kweli - 'Radio Silence' (Album Review)

Brooklyn Black Star and Reflection Eternal emcee Talib Kweli had been teasing his Radio Silence solo album since 2015 (at the most recent) so for it to come a full two years later is just enough time for fans to wait, even with the other projects Kweli's label Javotti Media made in the interim. Relax and exhale because the anticipated album, finally here, passes the hardest critical tests. With that cool, post-2010 Talib Kweli feel (in other words the first impression made after Javotti's inception), Radio Silence is an indie affair of flyness, anthems, calm vocal protest against violence in the streets, love, and guests from the under- and aboveground, all of them, even Waka Flocka and Rick Ross, pulling substance out for this particular artist and occasion. Despite all the wisdom and awareness in the author, the subject matter takes only some risks and not quite seismic, and the production, while prominent, won't have everyone coming back for seconds or thirds. It doesn't match the perfection or near-perfection of Talib Kweli's earliest work, but because it's nicely conscious, free of any major slip-ups and arriving at a time when mainstream rap is lowering its performance-related standards, Radio Silence really can catch on and silence the radio. (3 out of 5 stars)

SkyBlew & SublimeCloud – Destined: The [R]Evolution (Album Review)

The life and times of SkyBlew have never been easy. As a child, the illustrative emcee born Mario Farrow was shuffled to and fro from family and friends to foster and adoption homes, sometimes for the better, other times for the worse, but Farrow made it through to healthy young adulthood. To this day, though he enjoys awards and recognition for being Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s preeminent hip-hop artist, the conscious positive SkyBlew, who is also independent, works tremendously hard to reach the audiences that mainstream acts are given access to so easily. In short, he earns all of his accolades. Practiced at releasing multiple quality albums per year, SkyBlew has reached the feat again this year, with the followup to February’s Dreams, Toonami and Jazzier Days, entitled Destined: The [R]Evolution, a June 2017 issue from the visionary rhymer.

The sequel to Sky’s Destined: The Rebirth EP from last year, [R]Evolution is produced by beat prodigy SublimeCloud (Christian Whitson), who also served on the boards for Rebirth. This time we get a full LP with [R]Evolution and song after song of hearty wholesome rap that paints pictures – but keep in mind Sky’s staple saying: he doesn’t rap, he paints the sky, blew! Opening to memory-forming jazz, a “Tin Man” sample from ’70s band America, and of course Sky’s signature positivity, [R]Evolution can do nothing but hook us in atop before it gets even weightier in “Autumn, Lovely Convo!” with wisdom on everything coming at a price, notes on ambition, ATCQ-love and more classic rock sample-strength.

Sky succinctly summarizes the pleasure-from-pain principle in “HM04!” rapping, “I suffered, it made me tougher, through the hate became a lover,” referring to his own growth experience. He shakes his head at a rap game of greatly expanding head counts yet with little compelling material throughout the vast field. Still he stays himself, an aficionado of animation and worldly awareness. Listeners will find at least one loaded line to love per song. The classic metaphor of words as food is reimagined perfectly in “Chill, We Coolin’ Off!” where Sky says:

[I] cook food for thought so, here goes my recipe, psych! You ain’t gettin’ it, I’m thinking they have to but the flow is too much to process like fast foods.

Around claps, light piano and sax, Sky brims with dreams, aspirations and true knowledge but admits “there’s just gotta be more to living than labor and woe, we offer hope to the globe then after, we go.”

Look out because next, SkyBlew will melt your heart, in “Sailor Moon & Stars!” and soul-weaver Donovan and his soft song vocals add an irreplaceable suppleness over this pretty love-piece’s happy piano lines and joyful admissions. Naturally the heat goes up again afterwards. Sky drops some of his heaviest thoughts in “Speak That Breeze!”, this time regarding the terrible effects of negativity but with hope at the end:

Most cast away their dreams ‘cause they fear rejection and failure. Look at the election. That’s proof anything is possible in this nation of idiots, humanity becoming insidious. My city ain’t the prettiest but I still rep to the death. Just give us your all until there’s none left.

Of course SkyBlew knows there are many fabulous people out there but it’s also true that there are enough of the other kind to make a nation as he says, if only a small one at most.

The elegant SublimeCloud and the eloquent SkyBlew make the album’s step down to the close smooth yet impactful still. Hip guitar flicks and drum snaps in “Pen Tama!” move to more committed resolved wisdom from our generous wiz (never dumb) in “Movement of the Destined!” and “Parallel Echoes!” provides the calm cap-off of Sky stating where he’s from, what he’s about, where he’s going and how he’s gonna get there. Sky the “Colorful Dreamer” hasn’t an equal ratio of hard to soft obviously, seeing as how he’s mostly warm and bright, but he makes it work because one – it’s what the game’s been sorely missing – and two – his background and personality have given him allowance to be as such. SkyBlew with incredible help from the gifted talented SublimeCloud firmly takes his place next to the most progressive optimistic emcees of all time thanks to Destined: The [R]Evolution and the rest of his catalog. (5 out of 5 stars)

Combo Review, Week Ending Jan. 6, 2017

It’s a new year and the new music we were given in the first week of 2017 is pretty solid, some great some lacking, but sturdy overall. The big showbiz artists are scheduled for later this month and next but the mighty underdogs of the game keep barking and these hip-hop hounds can’t be ignored. Check out what the hunt has yielded this time…

The Deeper They Dig The Blacker The Planet Gets by Millenium Falcon (self-released)

Connecticut emcee Harold Walker II, or Millenium (with one, not two n’s) Falcon, drops an outstanding project with his new EP which is called The Deeper They Dig The Blacker The Planet Gets. The healthy conscious one discusses the clone-populated rap industry of late in “New Age Slaves” and what we use the web for in “Internet,” and particularly how it fosters vanity and self centeredness. Later his words focus on his responsibilities and becoming a man, all to hypnotically fresh production. The clever rhyming Walker, who stands for goodness, strength and knowledge, has the progressive wisdom of a good Millennial and the grace, upward momentum and aggressive ambition of a peregrine falcon in this properly oriented album.

4 out of 5 stars

The Past Is Always Present In The Future by Substantial (HiPNOTT Records/QN5 Music)

Longtime QN5 artist and past label-member of Mello Music Group, Substantial, releases his fifth solo LP, The Past Is Always Present In The Future, at the top of 2017 and he’s at the top of his game and on top of his craft with a fully grown mentality, a byproduct of him remaining a responsible emcee and deciding to be a good father (“In My Daughter’s Eyes” includes lessons on raising our world’s little girls). Substantial has an iron-will as he fights for the have nots, shows where he comes from, and looks at the state of the ghetto and his past daze (and days) with perfect clarity. T.P.I.A.P.I.T.F. may sound a little too rosy for some hardcore listeners, but with peace and love, Substantial nevertheless comes bearing hopes, values and lots of motivational speech in the everlasting, time-conscious masterpiece.

4 out of 5 stars

A Thousand Words by Styliztik Jones (self-released)

Styliztik Jones, an LA emcee, member of both Malcolm & Martin and the legend-claiming Likwit Crew, and generally speaking an overachieving rhyme-writer and exciter, has major connections obviously, but in his new EP, A Thousand Words, he doesn’t rely on them, going at it just about single-handedly, save for guest Sindri in the project’s opener, “Ok.” Truth be told he doesn’t need their help to succeed anyway. The clear-minded line-grinder is once again super clever with his bars, eloquently fluent in delivery and balanced and conscious in his subject matter. He states his aims in the game and addresses hard times and the problems of the world but trudges on with the appropriate mindset and positive vibes. Prominent new-age beats assist in a major way but Jones alone steals the show. There may seem to be a lack of original topics, but lyrically, A Thousand Words is a gem that paints a vivid picture for its audience.

3 out of 5 stars

Get The Gringo 2 by Cynic The Apache (Millennium Jazz Music)

PENPALS emcee Cynic The Apache from Brooklyn provides a public outlet for his audio free-association, some shock music-therapy for him and plenty of rad rough East Coast demeanor in Get The Gringo 2, off the quality-providing UK imprint Millennium Jazz Music. For the better, Cynic is not a mirror image of the golden era Flavor Unit emcee with whom he shares the second part of his stage name, but he definitely shares the same tough rugged nature of the former Apache, a nice homage from one perspective. Cynic is not shy when it comes to admitting his past mistakes and letdowns though he’s also sure about the new path he’s headed down in life and love. His style is old New York rap one hundred percent with punched, upright vocals that are lyrically heavy and supported by an unshakable foundation of firm, modernized boom-bap from Squires, Rapswell and Killclaw. Re-experience early ’90s hip-hop all over again in Get The Gringo 2 but with a fresh new face and an energetic young narrator in Cynic The Apache.

3 out of 5 stars

Pink Season by Pink Guy (Pink Records)

Internet TV comedian Filthy Frank steps into the ocean of hip-hop and gets his feet wet once again as character Pink Guy in his sophomore album Pink Season, the followup to the self-titled Pink Guy from 2014. The controversially vulgar and nerdy Pink Guy uses his shameless mockery and side-splitting humor to spoof trap rap and frolic insensitively over topics of sex, backwoods white racism, homophobia, sex, dog meat consumption, mass shootings, sex and oh yeah, sex, highly raunchy sex in fact. Filthy Frank as Pink Guy here certainly does not come with the most hardcore of lyricism, and actually it’s quite difficult to came him a full blown bonafide rapper, and the album does drag between the most notable tracks, but one thing that Pink Season does very well is open a window to some of society’s major prejudices, bigotries and stereotypes to show how ridiculous they are. It never accommodates our hypersensitive culture nor gets dead serious about really anything, but it is good for a few laughs and a straight shot of goofiness.

2 out of 5 stars

We’ll Be Fine by Justin Lucas (self-released)

Independent rapper Justin Lucas from Massachusetts released his debut album We’ll Be Fine to a modest congregation of dedicated followers on Friday, and while the project generically explores themes of an aspiring emcee on the come-up, there are glimmers of hope for the artist. Lucas has a serious flow with some solid though mostly just decent wordplay, but conceptually he hardly goes into anything of monumental substance or specific original value besides his own individual situation. At a distance, he tells the tale of a young man (himself) from a relatively quiet place fighting to banish vices and naysayers from his life and striving to achieve great things in hip-hop, possibly on a major public stage. Producer Frace supplies a mellow, downtempo, blankety production-spread with enough knock to grab attention. They’re the type of beats that sync perfectly with the regular guy status of Lucas himself. Ultimately, there is nothing outrageously objectionable about We’ll Be Fine; however, there is little here that can reasonably compete with the most outstanding pieces by the greatest emcees in game right now.

2 out of 5 stars

There are a lot of young hungry artists working hard in the field right now. The vocalists above can attest to that. Most importantly, they are putting out cohesive collections without major label deals, and they’re getting plenty of fans at the same time. They are making serious moves behind mainstream scenes, which is where the heart of the game lies.

Kembe X can 'Talk Back' and get away with it in impressive debut album

Talk Back by Kembe X

Chicago remains a blazing inferno of hip-hop talent now with Kembe X (Dikembe Jabari) being the latest hot ticket to drop an album, Talk Back (July 15, self-released), his debut.  The South Holland South Sider is hard and conscious and brings to his music dedication to creative clever wordplay (his influences include Nas, Common, the artists of Hypnotize Minds, and plenty more) and rebelliousness against our corrupt world.

Kembe starts Talk Back relatively downtempo and low-key but not without great presence and impact, as he shares his uneasy, hard-to-place feelings in the first couple songs.  Once things start to heat up, we can really feel Kembe's crushing power in his prominent vocals mid-disc.  He's got a progressive view on drugs, and his producers (The Antydote, Bentley Hazelwood, Hippie Sabotage, Crooklin, DJ FU) make brilliant new use of different samples and genres for a very fun, alternative sounding production set.

His guests include Roméo Testa, Zacari Pacaldo and fellow Village 777 group-mate Alex Wiley.  Talk Back is a great, insolent, biting beginning for the driven Kembe X, and he can do so much more with what he's built here.  He has risen above the hard situations in his childhood Chi stomping grounds, he has revved up his engines and he is just getting started in the rap race with T.B.

4 out of 5 stars

Z-Ro's development is arrested after 'Drankin' & Drivin''

Drankin' & Drivin' by Z-Ro

On Friday, July 15, Houston Screwed Up Click artist Z-Ro (Joseph McVey) released his nineteenth studio LP, Drankin' & Drivin' (1 Deep Entertainment), one year after his last, Melting The Crown (Feb 2015), but he would have been better off had he took a year off from releasing anything to gain some more perspective on life.

With the exception of 2013, the constantly working Z-Ro has released an album every year since 2000, and as of late it seems like it might have been a detriment more than a help.  While he's continued his special style of rapping with a melodic tongue ad infinitum, he has essentially been doing the same thing every year for all this time when he ought to take a break to smell the roses of world affairs, take a foray into different subject matter and rap about the outside world external to his small network of connections, for a temporary change at very least.

One of hip-hop's most unique vocalists, Z-Ro still has a interesting song-structured technique when he spits, but over too familiar beats in Drankin' & Drivin', he has once again voluntarily pigeonholed himself to the topics of hater-hating (a big one for him), self-adulation, and dough over art.  Concerning the last, Z-Ro makes the disturbing confession in "New Shit" that if we don't like the music he's making now, we can just "go back to his old shit" and that he doesn't make music to make good history in the culture but rather to make good money in the business.

Anyone can understand what he means by that, but after all the retail projects he's put out in the past, one would hope that he'd have some savings from them socked away to reasonably make at the bare minimum one investment in wise conscious issues meant to spark positive enlightenment in listeners, rather than more superficial rap.  Z-Ro has given away no clues that he is about do any such thing in the future.

Following the less than savory outcomes of The Crown (2014) and then Melting The Crown, Drankin' & Drivin' has gotten Z-Ro in an even more destructive accident this time around.  By sticking to the same boring formula of negative victimized grievances that he's applied to his music his whole career, he hasn't grown or evolved as an artist or person at all here.  Z-Ro no doubt has nice talent and skill, but for optimal results in the game, he needs to find some more sanity, strive to live comfortably instead of opulently comfortably, connect the dots in life, understand the underlying economic causes of his problems and then most importantly, rap on much smarter speaking points than those we get in this offering.

1 out of 5 stars

Lil Debbie has a lot to learn about rap and rapping after ‘Debbie’ debut

Debbie by Lil Debbie

Though Lil Debbie (Jordan Capozzi from Albany, CA) was axed, by her own account of the backstory, from former trio White Girl Mob (Kreayshawn, V-Nasty, Lil Debbie), she’s shared more albums than each of her group mates, on the order of around seven over the last four years. The ornery, fun-seeking Bay resident though is in artistic stylistic torpor on her latest effort, Debbie (July 15, Lil Debbie Records), using some of the most basic of rhyme schemes for the whole thing and sounding off like a sassy street girl with nothing better on her mind to say than proclamations of her unproven greatness and superiority (to “b*tches” mostly). It’s absolutely mind-blowing and a wonder why the twenty-six year old Capozzi hasn’t inserted any good bits of wisdom or level headed sense into her raps here nor any unexpected shocking statements. Standard buzzy synth beats slapped with a serious dose of trappy sobriety make up the production and besides Deb, amateur emcee Starrah and Njomza show but with that guest arrangement it’s like who cares. Unhappily, Debbie lacks all the things that make the best hip-hop albums great – interesting stories, brilliant messages and revelations, creative advanced wordplay, inventive beat construction, and invited friends that actually bring a good deal of something substantial to the table. Many were hoping that Lil Debbie would come through and represent well for her demographic in hip-hop with the Debbie album, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

1 out of 5 stars

Sadat X's 'Agua' is a cool refreshing glass of rap, as nourishing as clean clear water

Agua by Sadat X

Sadat X (one third of Brand Nubian) has changed tones slightly since his 2015 Never Left album where his experience and years came out as well something close to mild cheesiness, but this time, on his new Agua LP (July 15, Tommy Boy Ent.), he’s cut down a little on the cheese, kept his seniority plus some and added an ounce or two of his usual New York grit. 

Of an earlier style but fit for a king, Agua is evidence that Sadat is still a stable solid rock in the game carrying on tradition finely. He takes turns on the album informing, dreaming, having some fun and taking care of business, as confident as ever in his roles as the dad of a soon-to-be college freshman, a school volunteer and neighborhood watchman. 

His wisdom and sagacity are shown in “The City Never Sleeps” featuring eMC’s Wordsworth as the two rap on common corruption in the world, and songs like “Cut And Dry” (ft. Lord Jamar) and “The Bass Player” display Sadat X the lover, the warrior and regular guy. 

In “Maybe It’s Me,” he admits to being from a different, arguably better era (later, in “Tommy Is My Boy,” he’s anti-pills and anti-lean), and as his final positive acts, he turns off the Agua (and doesn’t leave it running) with “We Strive” (ft. Dres of Black Sheep) and the seize-this-life anthem “Nobody.” 

Sadat X is no less than a smart seasoned veteran now, and this regular musical-visit he pays to us has a larger, greater sound and impact than his last. The producers have laid out a good modest buffet of beats, and although it’s not very revolutionary, Agua is there to help wash away our blues.

3 out of 5 stars

Bernz gets by with a little help from his friends in 'See You On The Other Side'

See You On The Other Side by Bernz

Strange Music fusion group Mayday has become exquisitely popular in hip-hop circles in the last several years due in no small part to its four man panel of highly creative musicians but also due to the two emcees in the band, Wrekonize and Bernz.  Of both men, Wrekonize started his single-man career first, releasing one LP in 2010 and then another in 2013, but now it's Bernz' turn to shine solo.  See You On The Other Side, Bernz' official debut studio album (July 8, Strange Music Inc), is a less than ecstatic hip-hop goodie made by experts and professionals of their craft, but before anyone goes into the project, they should know that while it is structurally hip-hop to the core with plenty of bluesy cool productions and toe-tappable beats with solid vocals of course (including some from other Strange Music artists), it drips with melancholy, poignant pensiveness and heavy feelings of helplessness from its big filled-to-the-brim cup of coping elixir, metaphorically speaking.  It's for the mopers.  Be warned.  It lacks a good measure of positivity, powerful charging resolve and resoluteness, but if you take with a grain of salt all the gloomy despondency found nearly everywhere on S.Y.O.T.O.S., you'll be just fine.

"Came To Say Goodbye" offers disillusionment before possibly the album's best cut overall, "Outta My Brain."  Atlanta lyrical wizard Jarren Benton joins Bernz to deal with life frustrations over fast catchy guitar strums.  It's a real banger for the summer or anytime, venting and letting all its burdens hang out, with swagger and great showmanship.  "Smoke N' F**k" is dedicated to Bernz' dream girl, "Dancing With The Devil" to living on the edge, and "Chasing Shadows" to general malaise where the philosophical nihilism is directed at dissing the everyday capitalistic grind and bloggers among other things.  The sadness continues in "When It's Gone," this time because of no faith or confidence in a relationship, and then MURS, who is great, makes a few remarks in "Bed Of Nails" to the effect that critics build artists up waiting for them to fall, which in virtually every genuine case couldn't be further from the truth.  MURS just released a masterful LP in 2015 called Have A Nice Life so how could anyone wish hard times on the man for it?  It was a great sincere gift; however, part of the whole staged attitude of the song feels a little scripted to service its theme.  His dislike for critics might be exaggerated to an extent for the track.

Moving on, we get some cynicism in "Vicious" with an uncredited feature from Thirstin Howl III and then some feelings of disapproval in "It Don't Go."  "Call Me In The Morning" drinks and smokes when the troubles stack up (hopefully not to destruction) and the next and last three songs though still kind of down and out tend to chill and mellow a bit so things don't feel so nasty once the finale "Sunday Sin" comes through pumping and pounding in the music so we can all clap our hands and nod our heads.  Bernz is a good rapper and emcee for his class here bar none, not out of this world, but very much respectable, yet to some people, his all-original rhymes might seem to be at too intermediate a level, in the casual delivery he often uses.  The themes, topics, tropes and subject matter could benefit from getting out of the house, but then again they are a reflection, analogy and address of these days' very hard times and concomitant disenfranchisement.  SYOTOS' greatest life lines are its solid music and guests though.  It's definitely a rap album one hundred percent but maybe not a technically mind-blowing or jaw-dropping one from a lyrical standpoint, plus it's incredibly depressive which hurts somewhat.  Overall, and as far as hip-hop albums are concerned, the final verdict for Bernz in See You On The Other Side is - good.

3 out of 5 stars