Grieves-Together/Apart

Grieves

Together/Apart

ⓅRhymesayers Entertainment, LLC

Rating: 8.5/10

Okay, enough is enough. I’ve been staring at this document for almost a month trying to write this review and I’m not really sure why. I like this album and I like Grieves. How much do I like Grieves? I like him, I like him a lot. He’s probably one of the best rappers you’ve never heard of. But for some reason I just can’t seem to put this into words. He’s melodic and moody and his type of hip-hop isn’t necessarily the kind you sing along with, but damn does it make you listen. His lyrics and tracks paint images in your head of baggy jeans, ball hats, and wearing your hood up, walking around the downtown streets of some faceless city, just trying to blend in while you work through your thoughts. Cathartic, comes to mind. Together/Apart is sort of a diary for Grieves, somewhere to work through the relationship problems that come from promoting a budding recording career and consistently being on the road. I guess that’s a common theme in blossoming artists, but Grieves never makes it sounds self-pitying, as so many do. Moody? Yes. Depressing? Hardly.

This is Grieves second studio album and, I have to admit, I haven’t had all that much experience with his first, 88 Keys and Counting. Both have come out to critical acclaim and both run along the same vein, soulful but grittier than the track polishing we’re used to hearing on so many hip hop albums nowadays. Not to say that the tracks on Together/Apart sound haphazard or even a carbon copy to his first release, Grieves is distinctive in his sound, mixing his rap with his own low raspy singing, a voice which hardly belongs to a 27 year old white boy. A blend of keys, horns, percussion, and strings, mixed with Grieves poetic and personal lyrics, it makes for the best kind of hip hop.

I could go into detail about each track, but honestly, they’re all standouts. However, I will say the first track, Light Speed, really sets the pace for the album. A low tempo track with simple hand claps in the background, the lyrics giving nod to his days from childhood and all the steps that led to the present (the present being the time he sits down to write this song, literally), “It’s so simple, Superman, trick or treat, wet socks, bike rides in the summer to the best spots, could’ve sworn I was king of the best odds.” and “Started working on things that had lost all reason, now I’m sitting with a pad, moving so fast.” Setting tempo and mood, the rest of the tracks are just as mellow and personal.

Really, I’m not sure what there’s left to say about Together/Apart. Just give a listen. Hopefully, you’ll understand what it is that leaves me at a loss for words because, again, I can’t seem to describe the feeling.

The Cool Kids-When Fish Ride Bicycles

The Cool Kids

When Fish Ride Bicycles

Ⓟ2011 Green Label Sound

Rating: 4/10

Le sigh. I really had high hopes for this album. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware The Cool Kids had released an album until my insomnia induced internet surfing pointed it out to me. Based on their EP, The Bake Sale, I would’ve considered myself a Cool Kids fan, in fact, I claimed on several occasions that I was, even declared it on Facebook by ‘Like’-ing them (which is the only way to declare something officially), but now, with the release of When Fish Ride Bicycles, I’m not so sure.

Unlike it’s predecessor, When Fish Ride Bicycles lacks in...well, it just lacks. It’s mediocre at best. There does not appear to be a single track on the album that stands out to me. Truthfully, the beats are still distinctly The Cool Kids-esque, but completely toned down (which is what you get for signing on Pharrel as your producer, err, cough, ahem), which, I guess, had a direct affect on the writing? And, yes, I am posing that as a question because I honestly have no ides. Being that I obviously don’t know the boys (and most likely never will), I can’t even begin to fathom what happened. Was The Bake Sale EP just a fluke? I could’ve sworn there was exceptionality in this duo. With references in their lyrics to N.W.A. and even to their own tracks back and forth on the EP AAAND rhymes like “...just an F.Y.I., I’m F-L-Y, and for those who can’t spell I’m a pretty swell guy...” and “What it is, what it is, come check the noise, it’s the new black version of the Beastie Boys. Chuck-ie, Mikey, some dudes don’t like me. Don’t care. I’m dope, they lame, so bite me.”; I believed them! But maybe I was fooled.

The whole of When Fish Ride Bycicles album seems slowed down, almost muted. I just can’t seem to get behind any of it. If you’re still curious, even after this gloooowing review, I suppose the tracks you should check out are Sour Apples (featuring Travis Barker), Swimsuits (featuring Mayer Hawthorne), and Roll Call (featuring Asher Roth, Chip Tha Rippa, and Boldy James). They would be the catchiest tracks on the album. Sour Apples sounds most like a Cool Kids track with guest star Travis Barker (of Blink 182 and mad skillz fame) backing on drums. I’m not a huge Barker fan (to be honest, I find him a bit overrated, dun dun dun) but he definitely adds the bounce it needs, without over shinning the lyric work. Next up is Swimsuits; catchy enough, but nothing special. And, finally, Roll Call; actually, one of my least favourite tracks on the album, but should be checked out for the lyric work that Asher Roth puts in. I feel like Roth got written off because of I Love College, a single release set up to make him a one hit wonder, and people seemed lumped him in as the next Eminem simply because the boy is white. Well, the kid’s got his own style and skill, and more people need to know about it.

So, what have I learned form this experience? You can’t assume you’re going to like the next release from an artist even though you feel like you’ve gotten to know them so well over the years (27 plays of The Bake Sale EP on the iTunes, not including the iPod or the reset when I switched computers), but I guess I should’ve learned that by now, I have been buying my own music for almost 19 years. Shit happens.

BlakRoc - BlakRoc

BlakRoc

BlakRoc

Ⓟ2009 BlakRoc LLC

Rating: 9/10

BlakRoc, to explain, is a rap/rock collaboration between The Black Keys and various hip-hop artists. And when I say (not to quote myself) “various hip-hop artists,” I don’t mean your erryday, run-of-the-mill, bitches and hoe-ing, club traxx-ing, pimp juicing hip-hop artists we hear excessively, and unfortunately, nowadays. These are the artists true to the craft; the artists that boys like Nas rap about. The real heavy hitters. The ones that white girls like me, can listen to and try and understand where they’re coming from because they’re poetic with their rhymes. This is what I live for, when it comes to music. A sound and a feeling behind the music that I can grab onto; when the musicians, artists, and producers are just as excited about what they’re doing, as we are when we listen to it. I guess by now, you can tell where I’m going with this review. So, where to begin?

The Black Keys are doing what they do best, on this album. Playing the base heavy, organ tempered, soul-laden tunes that you imagine coming out of dimly lit, smoke heavy bars of the late sixties and seventies that a girl like me would’ve been talked out of going to at that time of age. Don’t misunderstand me, from what I said above. The Black Keys need serious accolades for this album. They recorded all the music previous to even meeting the artists that appear. All the lyrics came after. It wasn’t until they joined forces with Damon Dash (executive produce and co-founder of Rock-A-Fella records) did everyone agree to sign on. I highly recommend watching the ‘webisodes’ that are available on www.blakroc.com, it gives you a full behind the scenes picture of what went on. Most of the lyrics were written the day of recording, just whatever the visiting artist gleaned from the music. You can see all the guys like Mos Def, Jim Jones, and Raekwon get excited by what they hear. You get a real idea of the way Q-Tip works, layering, and working off his own rhymes. Billy Danze was originally asked to appear on Dollaz & Sense, but got overly excited when he heard what was already recorded for What You Do To Me.

The stand out song is definitely Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. Mos sings with soul and Jim Jones’ rhymes are smooth as can be. His deep and layered voice convinces you when he rhymes words like ‘been’ and ‘wind,’ and ‘petals’ and ‘ghetto,’ effortlessly. The best line in my opnion?: “Being humble is a hard quality to achieve when your ego is crazy with no modesty.” But there are a lot of shiners other than this leading single. Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers featuring Raekwon is a personal favourite, as well as Hope You’re Happy featuring Billy Danze, Nicole Wray, and Q-Tip; mixing Q-Tip’s peppered rhymes with Billy Danze’s angry vibrato and Nicole Wray’s heavy vocals. You also shouldn’t miss Coochie featuring Ludacris and O.D.B. (yes, O.D.B) and Done Did It featuring, self-proclaimed king of hip-hop, Jay-Z, both of which are only available on the CD printing, not the iTunes version.

Overall, I was so impressed with this album (which I was only recently informed of it’s existence) that I wrote a review of it 2 years after it’s original release. The artists successfully combine two genres of music I adore and do it with credibility on both ends. Now all I’m waiting for is a follow up.