New Leaf Entertainment, 2009

There’s a refreshing feeling to receiving a debut disc from an artist you know has put in a lot of time, energy, love and money into. Native Canadian producer/MC Plex just released his debut LP, and after taking it all in, I can wholeheartedly say that it would be a wise decision to check out, especially if you are fed up with the status quo of hip hop in 2009. This is something unique and inspiring, and is sweetly summed up with: “if you’re looking for truth, wisdom and more/ thank you and welcome to the Brainstorm.”

Crystalline clear production elevates this 20-track collection from non-descript product to a notable contribution to the canon of Canadian hip hop. He starts with his heart on his sleeve, and just stitches in more layers of deep feeling and thought as the album slowly unfolds. Interestingly, the rapper Plex confidently pushes the boundaries of his voice forward and harmonizes with himself on the first song, “Freeway”, where he assumes full responsibility for his actions and inspirations in his turbulent life. When’s the last time you heard a rapper do that?

There’s a gritty, Kingston Jamaica-ish tinge to the majestic horns and dutty guitar licks that kiss the body of “The Way It Should Be”, as Plex shows that his worldly thoughts take precedent over any other aspiration he might have as an MC. This isn’t about making money, but music this well-created should earn a reward.

“Is this a song about war, politics or religion?/ The three are so connected, I can’t tell the difference. “ Word up. Some of Plex’s most simple lines are powerfully brilliant. And Sarah Podemski connects the verses to the beat quite satisfyingly with the wise words that are curled up inside her sprawling, sparkling singing voice. Songs like this are what separate an artist like Plex from the rest of the independent horde of rappers trying to say something meaningful or make something lasting. His awareness and his songwriting skills become sharper with each track that unfolds on ‘Brainstorm’.

“Spare Change” speaks on the unhealthy over-medication of society, as Plex, Rellik, and Touch, all deliver very compelling, insightful and well-structured verses discussing the necessary changes the world must undergo before the optimism that most dissenting folks keep guarded in their hearts can be born. Leemai Lafontaine’s the one I assume is singing the hook, and it works, though not as pleasingly as the previous track. Over a nearly country-twanged, these natives break it down until Babylon falls apart, and puts the truth back together, as it was meant to be seen.

Toronto multi-instrumentalist Darp Malone lifts the well-intentioned tune “Grateful” from medium level having to much more impact. Sure, the moody minimalist beat suits the love-dipped lyrics of the track, but it might have been better to remain more traditional with such sentiments, and provide a deeper bed of emotion for the honest lyrics to lay down upon. It turns a song that might have been great simply into something good. A similar reaction is inspired by the next song “The Road”, where on paper, one might anticipate some explosive emotion. But unfortunately, the 60’s-era-Motown-worthy goddess Mz. Chawls isn’t utilized to her fullest on this smooth number. They can’t all be perfect.

Luckily, the momentum rockets skyward with the abstract swirling magic of Moka Only, who provides the fluid foundation, a friendly verse and chorus of “Feel My Style”. Just when you thought it was done, 9th Uno appears on the second half of the track, and bludgeons it to submission.

Good thing he made a solid response to anyone talking that ignorant shit about Aboriginal Native Canadians. And his singing may need a bit of work, but anyone with a well-tuned ear could ascertain that Plex does actually possess the potential to croon the smooth blues. It’s just not always in tune with the music, evidenced on the stark confessional “Reality”. “Motivated” is more of what you want to hear from Plex, as DJ Divinyl’s precise “get busy!” cuts open the gully, bangin’ number that features Dirt Gritie, who describes the modern era of hip hop precisely with the intelligent chorus. Definitely one of the most compelling songs on the album, and you hear that feeling co-signed by the outro.

“One” features the powerful Hero MC E. Dot who tells a simple story of days gone by, before Plex comes in and schools motherfuckers straight up and down about the truth of genocide of the Native North American Indian and the hundreds of years of hidden history that remains unknown to the masses. Plex’s voice perfectly captures the plight of his people in his verse, and collects the thoughts and hearts of millions of his people with his wise words before he drops his ancestor’s karma bomb on all ignorant heads. The parallels between African and Aboriginal cultures never felt so close. If only E. Dot spit his verse about slavery, that song would have burned a hole through the CD player.

As most people who are creating their debut album fall victim to, the biggest problem with this is the extended length of it. Although no songs are atrocious, some songs are certainly stronger than others, and a bit of executive producer editing could have made this project much more impactful, had it lost about 3 or 4 songs. Those lessons are learned in time.
It’s great to hear long-time veteran Touch on the mic once again, even if he’s not exactly flexing on the things he’s best at (smashing wack MCs). And as the album closes out on a comedic note, you realize that the gentle giant named Plex has succeeded in his mission to deliver a respectable piece of music full of “truth, wisdom and more” to the table. Soak in the depths of the album called “Brainstorm” if you want a refreshing new burst of down-to-earth, yet top-quality hip hop music.

- Addi “Mindbender” Stewart

[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

Frek Sho’s Gumball has resurfaced with a new name and a debut self-produced solo album. If Gumball didn’t first email to say he was sending us a copy of his album and had changed his name to Reefill, there’s a good chance this CD would have ended up in the probably-never-going-to-listen-to-it promo pile based on the horrible cover and song titles alone. Strangely, the press-sheet, liner-notes, etc… make no mention at all of Frek Sho or his former Gumball alias. From writing, recording, producing, and designing the cover art, Reefill did everything on this album. Beat wise, its very simple and actually at times unexpectedly similar to Frek Sho’s old stripped down production. Reefill can rap, but conceptually a lot of the tracks just sound too dated — multiple songs about weed are not what I want to hear in 2009. However, tracks like “Bubble Bursting” and the fun “Big Man Rap” make me happy to have had a the chance to listen to the album. The press-sheet mentions its an “album unsoiled by intervention” but i think Reefill would have been better served to have some rap homies to bounce things off of.

Tracklisting
01. Born to Kill
02. Drop it
03. 4 Tha Blunt-d 1′z
04. Elemental
05. Don’t You Tell Me To Smile
06. Big Man Rap
07. Spicy
08. Roaches
09. Bubble Bursting
10. Beautiful Vice

For more info, audio, and to purchase the CD check out myspace.com/reefill

Edmonton is a strange place for hip hop. You never know what to expect when someone new steps up to bat; and you probably have no idea what to expect from AOK’s debut CD, If you don’t buy this CD the terrorists win. You read the title and think it might be a revolutionary-themed album, influenced by greats like Public Enemy and KRS-One. Then you look at the cover and see a picture of AOK with his glasses on, and 64 of his friends wearing those same signature glasses pasted over every flap of the cover slip, all laughing and being quirky. It is now obvious that AOK is simply trying to make you pay attention to his CD any way he can; or at least be humourous about it. But even that isn’t quite what he’s about. The truth is that he does have something quite serious to say and to prove.

“Walk Like a Man” serves as the introduction for the whole album and presents himself as a person who stands by what he says. Of the things he says, one of his most recurring topics is his disgust for people adopting the gangster life for the sake of fashion and insecurity. While that style of life might make more sense occurring in depressed poverty stricken areas, if your from anywhere else you know that theirs a ridiculous overabundance of copycat gangsters. AOK constantly attacks this phenomenon, especially in songs like “Fake I.D.” and “Planet Grolic”.

Other topics include some personal ones, such as his cynical tale about coming-of-age sexual encounters in “Miss Greenlay”, his angst-ridden negative opinion on religion itself in “Unintelligent Redesign”, and of course his obsession with girls in the coffee shop industry in “Coffee Shop Girls”. The most important topic though can be found in his last two songs, ”You Are A God” and “Freedom is a State of Mind”, where he declares that your beliefs, freedom, and happiness are entirely dependent on your own thinking and mind state. I believe this is where his most revolutionary and important message comes out; about how we can redefine any of the terms that both religion and political philosophy present to us in any way we want.

As an MC he keeps his rhymes simple and straightforward, and employs a flow just a notch above the average rapper. Though he does really step it up in one my favorite tracks “Hip Hop a la Mode”, employing a skillful vocabulary set. The song does have a rather trite chorus, but is an impressive song for AOK. For the most part though, he rhymes bar-for-bar in a natural everyday Canadian voice. The production sticks close to a New York approach, featuring many soulful samples and upbeat drums. All the beats bump, though none completely stand out.

I’d have to say the most impressive thing about AOK’s CD is his strongly presented no-bullshit common sense beliefs. And if this is his debut, it’s a very promising start for him and his crew; Ill-Legitimate Productions.

Way Better Than: Rodney Dangerfield – Rappin’ Rodney
Worse Than: Immortal Technique – The Third World

Use a spoon to dig out the microchip under your right eye and hack a government database before they find out that the blip you correspond to has disappeared from their radar. Then rejoice that the Red Ants are back with what might be their last album (for a while at least). With news of Modulok and Vincent Price not getting along these days in our recent Red Ants interview, they may not be together when the mysterious legend Predaking gets out of jail to rejoin the group. Hopefully that’s not the case, because the new album, Omega Point, is strong and booming.

While it’s a rather short album being only nine tracks long, Vincent Price’s polished production delivers quality over quantity. It combines well-placed sci-fi and horror sounds to make every song cinematic. It would be easy to compare his production to a better-known producer famous for his futuristic slant (the founder of Definitive Jux), but Vincent Price has his own interpretation of drum mastery, with more up-beat tempos and marching breaks, reminding you of an army of, say red ants, about to swarm and attack an entire city block. As soon you reach the chorus of “Psychic Dictatorship”, your imagination gets abducted by climactic trumpets placed just right.

Modulok himself delivers his signature war torn and government conspiracy inspired battle raps with a conventional flow and inventive lines. He says things like “The road to nowhere … it leads to me.” and “I live an a basement. It’s a terrible mess. A cluttered mess of magnetic tape and metal boxes, haunted by an evil spirit, but caught it. Now it sits in a little jar all alone, giving dirty looks to the girls that I bring home.” He combines techno-babble with cleverness, but not in a perplexing way. He chooses to use a more anthem-like cadence than one too fast for the listener. Other than rapping about evil dictatorships, the grim fates of his old acquaintances, and his own psychosis, one of the coolest concepts he drops is on the song “Versus”, where different essences of feeling clash as one trumps the other. It starts out with ‘pleasure’ being the most important feeling in life, which is then destroyed by ‘pain’, which is then trumped by ‘love’, which is finally undone by ‘nothingness’.

Now there’s no doubt Modulok is putting his brain to use on the writing, his raps however still may not be for everyone. He comes across with an atypical accent a friend of mine described as distinctly Canadian. I would describe his voice as that of a chain-smoking dirty wu-ogre. His raspy and muddy vocal inflection may turn off people who prefer clear delivery and a more charismatic voice. I personally don’t mind it that much, just knowing something this raw and underground is coming out of Ontario Canada. Plus I appreciate the originality that it brings.

Better Than: Atoms Family – Center of da web
Worse Than: Cannibal Ox - the Cold Vein

Do you ever get that feeling that reality is out to destroy you? That most of your whole life has been a waste of time? That society breeds us to adopt and display personalities not our own? That our hero’s are false, life is nothing more than boring, and that even pessimists are full of crap? Enter pessimist extraordinaire and poetic extremist Ecid, a Minnesotan hip hop artist who does it all; write, rap, produce, tour, co-found and run a label, release an average of 2 albums a year, and still find time to express relentless negativity about life in his art. Yup, I did say poetic extremist, because Ecid absolutely goes off. Lyrics take the forefront on this album, and he has a powerful voice and imagination to bring it there.

In “Re-Seeding Skyline”, he describes a Kevorkian-like doctor offering him euthanasia as a way to escape all the suffering he is going through. At first Ecid is enticed by the offer, but soon after becomes angered by the doctor’s pettiness in profiting off the death of others, and decides he’d rather live with the sorrow and propaganda than give a single cent to the powers bent on driving him to destruction. Besides weaving imaginative stories, count on him to speckle fanatical quotes in most of his songs. “If hip hop was really dead, there’d be nobody complaining about it, brick walls and bus stops would be completely spotless, shitty demo tapes would be harder to find than Bin Laden and the record labels would let all the MC’s keep the profits.” — Crooke Cologne. “I used to have a lot of friends. But real friends require maintenance. Now I just have a lot of ‘Yes Men’ looking to steal my so-called ‘Greatness’. I’m not famous, I’m a sell-out in the making.” — The Art Of Losing It. When it comes to delivery, Ecid has no well-defined cadence structure and sometimes squishes his words together just to get his lengthy messages across. While such feats are capable by some of hip-hop’s best MC’s, Ecid tends to have a bit of a lazy pronunciation, where he doesn’t quite articulate rushed consonance. That means you’ll find yourself rewinding a song occasionally just to decipher what he just said. The beats are up-tempo, dark, dusty, and psychological. Although not overly polished, they blend together to create a complete and intense cynic experience.

I would recommend any body check out a few songs of his at least. He has vocal strength, ingenious imagination, good lyrics, and made an album that feels complete from front to back. While he does take brooding to a new level, and doesn’t quite come correct on word-for-word delivery, Economy Size goDD Costume’ is a masterful work of hip-hop art in general.

Better Than: LoDeck – Dream Dentistry
Worse Than: Sole - Live From Rome

Serengeti is all of my favourite rappers rolled into one; I cannot think of another emcee who comes as diverse and original from album-to-album and even track-to-track. Dennehy (Lights, Camera, Action!) is billed as a re-release of the 2006 version of Dennehy, but with seven new songs, new skits, and re-mixed / re-mastered versions of the originals, it is really much more. Based on a screenplay written by Serengeti, the album fittingly plays out as a Chicago hip hop musical with Geti impressively acting each role and providing snapshots into the troubled everyday lives of his entertaining cast. The highlights are the raps, but consistently tight production from Emynd and Midas Wells, amongst a few others, definitely help to further elevate the album. If there was a best actor nod given for fictional rap album performances it would have to go to Kenny, Serengeti’s charming star of Dennehy, a stereotypical Chicago resident who would be perfectly at home on SNL’s Superfans skit. Kenny would tell you to go grab a case of O’Douls and pick up Dennehy (Lights, Camera, Action!).

Better Than: Mike Ladd – Nostalgialator
Worse Than: Sole - Selling Live Water

Serengeti “Dennehy”

Serengeti “I Don’t Know”

Tokyo’s Hue Records have been one of the more notable new labels to arise over the past few years. Once a Hue, Always a Hue is their second compilation album and like the label’s roster itself, features a carefully chosen selection of artists. For an album with so many different producers and artists, the transitions between tracks are surprisingly elegant. Songs range from what many would consider Indie Rock or Electronica (such as standout tracks from Radical Face and Deadpan Darling) to more recognizable hip hop, without anything sounding out of place and all helping to define the playfully somber sound of the album. Cohesiveness is where a lot of compilations fail, but where Once a Hue, Always a Hue definitely succeeds. This is everything a compilation album should be.

Better Than: Hi-Tek – Hi-Teknology 3
Worse Than: Anticon – Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop

Is the famous 1990’s R&B singer back to resurrect Tupac for another hit single? Apparently not; this is a different Jon B altogether, one who is actually a pretty dope producer from Edmonton. There definitely is some resurrecting going on here though, as this is a remix album, but these aren’t your everyday remixes. The press release states very fittingly that this is a “rap experiment.” Jon doesn’t shy away from things such as playing with familiar pitches, turning a couple of your favourite rappers into chipmunks. You can end up first thinking he’s going to fuck up one of your favourite tracks, but by the end of the song thinking that, hey this is pretty cool. The overall sound here is distinctly lo-fi, evoking the image of a kid in his parent’s basement having fun making pause-tape remixes with cassingle accapellas and instrumentals. Along with classics from Mobb Deep, Busta Rhymes, and Afu-Ra…to name a few; Jon B also takes time out to showcase local Canadian talent such as Touch (The Representatives), Wordburglar, Mindbender, and more. These sprinklings of lesser known rappers, such as one of the stand-outs by Corvid Lorax, combined with Jon B’s somewhat untamed production style are what make this album really worth checking out. If you’re not hearing the original familiar beat in your head, then you’re probably listening to good remix, and more often than not that ends up being the case on Beat Diarya.

Better Than: Da Beatminerz – Brace 4 Impak
Worse Than: MF Doom – Special Herbs Volume 1

If you’re like me, Sean Kingston’s first 2 singles were stuck in your head for the entire summer. Even if you don’t want to admit it, I am sure at some point you caught yourself humming along and perhaps even singing along with the hook in “Beautiful Girls”. If that is the case then, like me, you will be disappointed with the rest of the album. Who knew that for the most part Sean Kingston rapped about guns and gangsters? Well you would if you had bothered listening to his mixtapes or checking out his myspace page. This works out alright on a couple of tracks, such as “Colors” featuring Kardinal Offishall among others, but basically the 17 year old is taking himself waaaaayyyy too seriously and would be better off sticking with his more lighthearted and infinitely more enjoyable fluffy songs. Let’s hope he’s more believable as Notorious B.I.G., who he is set to play in the upcoming biopic, than he is as a gangster.

Better Than: T-Pain – Epiphany
Worse Than: Akon - Konvicted

After hearing this album Serengeti became my favourite Chicago rapper. Dont Give Up is his team-up with producer Polyphonic (one of his label mates on Audio 8). This album is Geti’s most experimental so far, both vocal and production wise. Polyphonic’s beats manage to stay beautifully melodic and sound consistent despite bouncing all over between hip hop, glitchy electronica, and drum & bass. Serengeti grew a beard and is on some sad rap shit and it’s awesome. Geti does quite a bit of imperfect singing on here and it’s pretty impossible not to love. Dont Give Up is his best album yet, don’t sleep.

Better Than: Feist – The Reminder
Worse Than: Nomad - Lemon Tea

Serengeti & Polyphonic – “Lately I Havent Been Feeling Well”

Serengeti & Polyphonic – “Sunrise”