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Mixtape & Album Review

Mixtape & Album Review

Monday, February 10, 2014

The RED SKY album is probably one of the most unique projects we have gotten the chance to review.

ARTIST(S): Aja Lorraine & Wally Clark
ALBUM: Red Sky

OVERALL RATING:
 
The RED SKY album is probably one of the most unique projects we have gotten the chance to review. It's definitely an experimental project featuring Aja Lorraine's vocals mixed with Wally Clark's production. Let's also be clear, this is NOT a rap album. If you enjoy listening to R&B like vocals over various styles of production, and you enjoy the more eclectic styles of music; this would be the album for you.

This album was more abstract in its content and production, and didn't necessarily follow the standard formats for verses, hooks, etc. It seemed to have a more organic composition to it overall.

The ability of Aja to blend her writing and delivery to the production definitely showcased her strength as a vocalist. The melodies were absolutely unexpected in many of the tracks, but made sense.

One of the key factors that gave this album a good rating was the mixes. Most of the tracks were well balanced. The clarity in most of the tracks is what made this a smooth listen.

Tracks like BEEN AWAY could have used a little less on the synths, and WHAT KINDA CAT had some horns that would have been better more prominent in the mix.

While the production had a good range even within tracks, with drops and sequences that created various moods within the songs; there were some tracks like 1 SIDED LOVE and SKIN TO SKIN that seemed a bit monotonous after a while. The best songs were those that had a variety of sequences where Aja would follow the moods it created.

Our top picks for this album are REPO CHICKS, WHAT KINDA CAT and RED SKY. Check those out and let us know which ones are your top picks.

Overall, if you're looking for something more experimental and less Hip Hop; this is a good project to check out. There are links below with streaming and purchasing options.
 


ALBUM RATINGS
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Lyrics:
Mix:
OVERALL:
Please click here for more information on guidelines for our bootslap rating system.
 
Monday, December 23, 2013

The Snooze Button is definitely not an album to be taken lightly or slept on. It's properly titled and boasts a myriad of tracks that will make any fan of Hip Hop remember why they enjoyed emcees in the first place.

ARTIST(S): Annex (@annexhiphop)
ALBUM: The Snooze Button LP

OVERALL RATING:

The Snooze Button is definitely not an album to be taken lightly or slept on. It's properly titled and boasts a myriad of tracks that will make any fan of Hip Hop remember why they enjoyed emcees in the first place. There's a total of 12 tracks, including intro and outro; and the production ranges from hard drops and bass lines to smooth production with insightful lyrics.

The opening track, "Respect My Carpet" jumps off with an authoritative flow and anthemic production. Annex makes it clear he understands the limitations of lyrical emcees, while still demanding the respect for his craft as an artist.

He follows it up with "Over My Dead Body," that features hard hitting production along with the slightly dismissive tone we once knew emcees to thrive off of. In one of his verses, he has the following advice for the younger generation: "Smarten up young thug / they want you talking about the guns and the drugs / they love to hear you ni**as scream no love / it's fuel for the agenda before they pull the rug"

This album has a lot of gems for thought mixed within the wordplay, and it will take a few listens to catch all the lines. The good part about this project is that most tracks will actually make you want to listen again. The delivery and texture of his voice flows well with the production of the tracks; so, it makes for a good listen. His ability to transform his delivery is obvious in tracks like "On My J.O." and "Don't Remind Me."

The features on this project from Laws, Vayga, imagiin360, Knucklez, Mike Mass, Aja Lorraine, Laz, J. Scriptz, B. Worthy and Jae Luis bring their own style to the respective tracks they appear on. His ability to pick good features was one of the things that gave him a good rating. So many times, features take away from the album, and for the most part, his features didn't water down the project at all.

Nonetheless, the few weak points of the album were on tracks like "This World," where the mellow feel was definitely needed, but it lacked the impact it could have had with a hook was mixed with a bit more strength and the production had a few more buildups in the instrumental.

Some of the mixes on the instrumentals clashed a bit as in the track, "On My J.O." that should have probably had horns on a different octave so as not to take from the vocalist. Other than that, the only lacking element from the album was the fluidity between tracks. This could have been a good storyline album, but it lacked the cohesive interludes to phase in between tracks.

Overall, the project was solid and a must have for any Hip Hop enthusiast that loves raw indie rap with no filters. Annex not only found his voice, but stepped his character up a bit more through the years and it shows in every verse he drops on this album. Seeing the growth from the last project was indeed refreshing.

We'll finalize this review with the following Annex line from his outro track: "You're self-driven if you're doing what you love / but understand that even the best of us benefit from a shove."
 
 
ALBUM RATINGS
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Lyrics:
Mix:
OVERALL:
Please click here for more information on guidelines for our bootslap rating system.
 
Monday, November 4, 2013

There are rarely groups that truly go outside of the box to deliver some good music mixed with great comedy AND dope production. This is definitely one of THOSE kind of projects.

ARTIST(S): FoulMowf & Hagan Lee
ALBUM: Here to Hear
 
OVERALL RATING:
 
So, we received this project from some St. Petersburg emcees that redefine the meaning of UNIQUE. There are rarely groups that truly go outside of the box to deliver some good music mixed with great comedy AND dope production. This is definitely one of THOSE kind of projects. FoulMowf and Hagan Lee combine forces to create a completely unfiltered approach that will have you rewinding just to hear the wild punch-lines and metaphors used throughout the project.

Opening up the album with a completely comical sample; the beat drops to expose their absolute dedication to hard hitting production on "You Can Find Me." While opening up the album with a long track of features is usually not the best move, it did create the feeling necessary to understand exactly how diverse these guys could be.

Tracks like "Dominate," "Morning" and "Words" will definitely be one for the Hip Hop heads to save in the playlist. The authoritative flows and production on these tracks are enough to gain respect in any circle of emcees.

One of the most unique and hilarious tracks is "Smart Dummy." FoulMowf's off the wall delivery and completely insane lyrics are one of our favorites on this project. It's definitely not a track for those easily offended; but if you can take a joke, this will be one of those tracks that people play back for their friends simply because of how crazy it really is. The production definitely compliments the flow and it simply WORKS.

 
 
Overall, the project was solid and one of the most creative sounds we have heard in a while. There were some weak points to the project, which were mainly mix related, thus dropping their rating here. "Black Hoodie" was a dope track and concept, but the overall mix on the production could have used more strength on the low to mid-range frequencies. "Bad Seed" was another track that would have made the playlist easily had the mix had a bit more power to it. "Everything" had a great concept and sound, but the vocals needed more of bump in the overall mix; and "Strictly Commercial" somewhat drowned out FoulMowf's vocals a bit. These are a few of the examples of tracks that needed some engineer work, but also made us question what would happen with these guys on a project with a very polished mix and master.
 
This project is definitely a must have for those who enjoy a different sound that is both creative and still true to its roots in Hip Hop. One of the cool things about this project through the whole CD is the use of Hip Hop samples and references from ODB to KRS and more. While their sound is definitely new school, you can clearly hear the influences that heads will appreciate. This is not to say that they sound anything like Golden Age Hip Hop… believe us when we say that they have THEIR OWN SOUND. Download their project for free below and let them know what you think.
 
 
 
 
 
ALBUM RATINGS
Production:
Lyrics:
Mix:
OVERALL:
Please click here for more information on guidelines for our bootslap rating system.
 
 
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