All posts by Evan Vogel

My name is Evan Vogel. I'm a 22 year old College student attending UW-Milwaukee. I am majoring in Journalism but my passion is Hip-Hop. I write my own songs and poems and just genuinely love the art form. Contact me on Facebook, Twitter or my blog if you want to get to know me or just want to find some new music! Peace and Love.
Reviews

EP Review: Bloo | Kacy Hill

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Kacy Hill Bloo
BY EVAN VOGEL

A lot of young artists play to their strengths, but being young artists they don’t have a firm grasp on their own identity yet, so their strengths resemble that of their influences. Finding an untraveled musical path in today’s saturated market is no easy task. The likes of indie-pop, synthpop and alternative R&B artists have hit a point of cultural dominance. So it would make sense that their footsteps would linger, leaving traces of their sound and style in the music of aspiring artists.

Enter Kacy Hill, GOOD Music’s newest signee. It is quickly apparent why Kanye signed her after only hearing ‘Experience’, a single song. The talent is there, lyrics beautifully sung in an airy legato that seemingly evaporate into the instrumentals they glide over. Somewhere in close proximity to James Blake, Ellie Goulding and The Weeknd you will find Hill’s spectrum of sound. At least the sound of her EP, Bloo.

While the synthesized electronic elements dominate the general architecture, there are enough organic elements to notice. Being that the project is her first real introduction into the big leagues, it’s skimpy five-song, 20 minute length bears a lot of weight. An interesting decision to note right away is that the last two tracks on the project are producer remixes of the first two. So really we only have three new tracks to help acquaint ourselves with Hill.

The first, ‘Foreign Fields’ represents her almost immediate transition into her new lifestyle thanks to the likes of Kanye West and company. It combines separated piano notes and an almost static-like electronic element that graduate to a charged-up chorus, then dies back down into her ethereal vocals and it works wonders. On ‘Arm’s Length’, Hill releases some dormant energy as she channels a distanced relationship. Piano notes hit like a hammer and are backed by a drum and synth. The chorus is empowering and reflects something that those with ears for radio music will definitely recognize; not to put it into the category of radio music, but it would definitely thrive in that environment. Then a song written in a similar vein, ‘Shades Of Blue’, that moves from its familiar electronic elements via the room-filling bashing of drums.

As I mentioned before, the final two tracks are remixes and don’t really give us any more of an insight into Hill other than maybe her own musical interests. The Stockholm-based producer, Young Gud’s remix of ‘Foreign Fields’ is good, yet not much more than we have come to expect from mainstay producers like Avicii or Zedd. Ending the album on an unfortunate low note, the remix of ‘Arm’s length’ is almost completely void of Hill’s vocals and producer Bodhi’s remix is more generically representative of low-level dance pop than it should be, given its great source material which turns out to be much more interesting. Ultimately, we are given the briefest glimpse of material from an artist who clearly has the talent, both in singing and writing, to carry a project longer and more ambitious. Hopefully, her debut album is wider in scope and the remixes are left to the YouTube channels. But for now, we are given at least three, very telling tracks that show signs of someone who could be the next big artist.

7.5

News

Skizzy Mars Postpones Tour and Drops Details On Debut Album

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BY TER STAFF

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

It has been awhile since we have heard anything from the Manhatten-based MC. His last project, being The Red Balloon Project in February. Since then there hasn’t been much to report on the lifestyle rapper, until now. Today, Mars took to Twiiter and Instagram to release some bits of information and even some presumed cover art for an upcoming single, ‘Chemistry’.

https://twitter.com/SkizzyMars/status/653312071862484993

He also opened up about working on his debut album entitled, Alone Together and the vast differences it encompasses compared to recording an EP or mixtape. Wanting to ensure his greatest artistic endeavor to date, he announced the delaying of his headling North American tour via Instagram which can be read below.

Skizzy Mars Tour Delay

While the tour delay may be enough to dampen the spirits of even the most hardened of fans, the impending album should be enough to bolster their spirits for the time being. In the end, this bittersweet announcement will work out to everyone’s benefit because at the end of the day we are here for great music.

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday Review: 268-192 | Lyfe

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Lyfe-Jennings-268-192-cov
BY EVAN VOGEL

After getting released from a ten year prison sentence for arson, I can’t help but to find it ironic that Lyfe Jennings would go on to set something else on fire. The difference? This time, it was his debut album, Lyfe 268-192 that caught fire from intense amounts of soul and some of the most honestly devout storytelling of the last decade. To even call it an album I feel does this body of work a slight injustice. Lyfe crafted a conversation set to the tune of music.

He assumes the first-person role of character and narrator as he delves into his version of a hustler’s love, or rather lust-turned-love story, ‘Must Be Nice’. Lyfe dismantles the hustler’s lifestyle and reinforces the thought of finding true love the only way a thug can, from experience. This experience-based reflection is where Lyfe separates himself from most. Instead of succumbing to natural R&B tropes he takes the time to really evaluate life and create songs that resist the pull of the mainstream.

The instrumentation is very much from a bygone era of sound. Consisting largely of a combination of guitar and uniquely rhythmic drums. The feeling of realism in consistent in every aspect of the project. Each song ends with an intimate narration that sets the stage for the following song, something like a preface someone would commit to at an alcoholics anonymous meeting. Love is lost and found in any number of ways in Lyfe’s life. He poetically traverses an acoustic guitar and the echoes of soft finger snaps on ‘Hypothetically’, which imagines the ‘what-ifs’ that are present in every relationship. The stresses of the relationship had proved too much for our storyteller as he learns to appreciate life outside a relationship on the funky and upbeat, ‘Smile’.

The gravity of real life problems is discerned on the almost bluesy, ‘Greedy’ which has Lyfe baring his private life and hiding from cops for a reason entirely different than we are used to hearing in music, child support. It is a very one-sided look at a highly complex issue but Lyfe makes it hard to hate him for dodging his bills after he explains the story through his lense. This dynamic exposes some of Lyfe’s faults and only helps to humanize him even further. Of everything I have already mentioned that makes this music so appealing, nothing does more for this man than his voice. Why you ask? Simple, Lyfe’s voice is one of a kind. It’s paradoxical in the sense that it retains a weighty grittiness while consistently sounding smooth. It’s sandpaper lined in silk and rarely has struggle ever sounded so easy and oh so good.

8.9

Features, Interviews

Interview | Alexx Calise

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BY EVAN VOGEL

Alexx Calise

Alexx Calise. Although it’s a name that you may not be familiar with at the moment, there is a good chance you will be soon. She has already seen the successful appeal of her work unfold as it has been featured on numerous television shows (Dance Moms, Grimm and The Voice, just to name a few) over the years. As many independent artists do, Calise took to YouTube to share most of her music – and the internet spoke. She has since garnered millions of hits on her songs and established something of a fan base. Alexx took some time to talk with us about her style, what its like being an independent artist and also gave us some insight on her upcoming album, Addition By Subtraction. Check out the full interview below!

You started writing music at a young age, correct? Who were some of your biggest influences growing up?

I’ve been writing songs since I was a kid. My dad was definitely my biggest influence (he’s a guitarist as well), but I was also really into blues and grunge. I grew up listening to Silverchair, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, B.B. King, and more. I’ve always been drawn to really emotive, passionate, and soulful music, regardless of the genre.

Have you always had your heart set on being a musician or were there other goals and dreams along the way?

Music has always been in my heart, but I’ve always been a writer first and foremost. I wrote my first story in kindergarten, so it just goes to show how many years I’ve been at it, haha. When I was 11, I picked up the guitar at first merely to facilitate my writings, but then I ended up falling in love with my instrument along the way.

In addition to music, I’m also a bit of an entrepreneur. I own my own kids party entertainment business out here in LA. We offer over 100 costumes and characters, and we’ve even appeared on The Ellen Show recently, which was pretty cool. I do some acting too, though I wouldn’t consider myself a connoisseur by any stretch. I’m beginning to think I have A.D.D. I can’t seem to sit still, haha.

Your songs all appeal strongly to emotions. Do you typically write from personal experiences or do you try writing from other perspectives as well?

Why thank you. I’ve definitely written from other perspectives, especially when I’m writing for licensing purposes or for other artists, but I typically write from my own life, because music is a form of therapy for me. An artist’s mind is a complex web of emotions, so there’s a lot to glean from! I’ve got a lot to say, haha.

Your music has been featured in countless television shows, particularly The Voice, Grimm, and Dance Moms, did you ever picture it happening like it did?

It’s funny, nothing has ever turned out the way I pictured it would. Nearly every little “victory” or “success” I’ve had has been out of nowhere, or it’s happened in a completely unconventional way. For example, I wrote a little song called ‘Cry’ a few years ago in my bedroom during a low moment. Little did I know that that song would become somewhat of an anthem for all of these little girls. One day, out of nowhere, all of these kids started making tribute videos and music videos using ‘Cry’, and I had no idea why. Upon further investigation, I found out it was used on this show called Dance Moms, and this little girl named Maddie Ziegler danced to it on the show. My dad suggested I make a music video featuring her in it because of how popular it was getting, so I flew Maddie out to LA, we shot the video, and the rest is history. The video now has 2.5 million hits, the song has sold over 50,000 downloads and counting, I’ve since performed on the show, and I’ve had at least six more songs on the series. Who would have thunk it?

You recently started your Fundrazr campaign for the funding of your fourth project which currently has over $2,500 of fan support, can you tell us more about it?

Certainly! I’m trying to raise money to offset some of the recording costs I incurred, as well as raise money for marketing costs. That includes an adequate PR campaign, music video production, CD duplication costs, graphic design costs, and the myriad of other things that are associated with putting out a new record. It’s quite expensive, haha!

If you’d like to be a part of the record, please check out my Fundrazr campaign page at Fundrazr.com. There’s tons of perks for contributing (even if it’s just a dollar—you can get an AC download of your choice!), such as exclusive AC shirts, a signed guitar, and clothing I’ve worn while performing on Dance Moms and Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition.

How is the new album, Addition By Subtraction coming along? Is there anything you can tell us about it? Concepts? Direction?

The album is actually all done production wise. In terms of sound, it’s a bit different from my previous works. It’s a little on the poppier side, but it’s not saccharine by any means. It’s very thought evoking and heartfelt, very lyric-driven, very emotive. I was going through a lot at the time, and you can certainly hear that. This album was a bit of a purge for me; I was getting rid of a lot of negative elements in my life, hence the title. I think you’ll hear my grungier influences in songs like ‘Blood’ and ‘End of the World’, and my lighter side in songs like ‘For What It’s Worth’ and ‘Anchor’.

You’ve said before that you’ve always been a part of the “counterculture” and that it has lent strongly to your alternative sound, where else does your musical style draw from?

I’ve always been a bit of an outcast, and I’ve never really been part of any group. I suppose being different has always been a focal point of my writing and music. Personal struggle always provides great writing material, haha.

Being an indie artist who isn’t back by a label is tough, how have you been working on gaining exposure within the industry?

It certainly is! I find that one of the best ways of gaining exposure is by licensing your music. I belong with several agencies which help to place my music into film and TV. Getting a great placement in a movie or popular TV show is worth it’s weight in gold. I spent years trying to get interviewed and reviewed, and while that was really helpful, nothing even remotely compared to getting one big placement in a major network TV show.

My motto is to work smarter, not harder. Also, never be afraid to ask for the things you want. I’ve gotten music placed in major shows, endorsement deals, reviews, and a plethora of other things simply because I asked. You need to have a good product of course to back it up, but I think people respect the fact that I have the balls to ask them for something.

Have there been setbacks?

Absolutely! Most of them have been financial. Everything I ever make from music or my kids party business is immediately reinvested back into my music. I’ve poured thousands and thousands of dollars into my career, all with the hope of something potentially catching fire. Every time I invest in a record or a video or anything musical for that matter, I’m tossing the dice. It’s a bit nerve wracking, but it’s a gamble I’m willing to take because I believe in my music.

What benefits do you think you are afforded by not being tied to a label yet?

There are a bunch actually. I own all my publishing, I have the rights to my entire catalog, I’m in charge of every aspect of my career, and I ultimately get to do whatever I feel like doing. I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself. If I had to answer to a label, they’d have final say about everything. I’d have a hard time relinquishing control, unless of course I were being promoted heavily and touring extensively.

What is your favorite song to listen to right now?

I’ve been on a bit of a Kid Rock kick ever since I saw him a few weeks ago (if you haven’t seen him live yet, do yourself a favor and check it out—best concert I’ve seen in years), so I’ve been jamming out to ‘First Kiss’ and ‘3 CATT Boogie’ quite a bit!

What was your strangest fan encounter?

Usually people are very sweet. I can’t think of too many weird fan encounters offhand thankfully. All in due time I suppose, haha.

Favorite 90’s jam?

That’s a toughie since there’s so many great 90’s jams. Hmm…I’m going to have to go with ‘Freak’ by Silverchair because those are my boys.

Time to give yourself some plugs! Where can people keep up with you and all your music?

Everyone feel free to drop in and say “hi” at any of the following:

Alexxcalise.net
Twitter.com/alexxcalise
Facebook.com/alexxcalisemusic
Youtube.com/alexxcalisemusic
Instagram.com/alexxcalise
Soundcloud.com/alexxcalise

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday Review: Mood Muzik 4: A Turn 4 The Worst | Joe Budden

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joebudden_moodmuzik4_cover_1024px
BY EVAN VOGEL

Joe Budden is a sort of anomaly within hip-hop. He is looked up to by nearly every established or aspiring lyricist out there, his life seems to be stuck in a constant state of eclipse that produces nothing but darkness and sadness around him. He is revered yet has little resentment for his own self-destructive tendencies; and he tells his story like a modern day poet laureate. All of this unequivocally creates the ideal situation for a rap artist to flourish. While commercially he has been strained by the lack of an audience for his often disquieting material, he has found footing in underground crowds as a legend.

Time and time again he has taken his addictions, insecurities, and instability and created poetic afterthoughts that can serve as cautionary tales to the rest of us. This process is most evident on a string of mixtapes known as the Mood Muzik series. There are four tapes in total, each gaining notoriety from those before it, culminating in the fourth installment released in 2010. Very few musical series have extended for four outings and been able to maintain such a consistent mood through and through.

The fourth installment, Mood Muzik 4: A Turn 4 The Worst, is another trip down memory lane. Before the project dropped, Budden had gone on record and said that this would be the lightest of the four projects in term of its mood. In reality, trying to hear its lighter tone is like trying to pinpoint the differences between two apples from the same tree, few exist. If anything, the lighter weight is established by the two humorous skits (‘Mop Salad’ and ‘The Shoes’) that consist of R&B laced fillacio explanations and punchlines about rappers crying from onions and bunions causing shoe problems.

Don’t be mistaken the rest of the album is classic Budden, lyrical dominance asserts itself over every other aspect. Storytelling is prevalent in plenty of forms, like Budden rapping from the perspective of someone who witnesses the life of someone with crippling family problems as well as a woman who objectifies herself for a taste of the glamorous life on ‘Welcome To Real Life’. It’s hard to pluck songs from Joe and decide which one are most capable of expressing just how good he is. There is no doubt that Budden is one of the top lyricists in the game. His ability to carry a rhyme scheme non-stop for the entirety of his lengthy and complexly structured verses is amazing. On ‘Black Clouds’, a song about Budden finally starting to overcome his struggles and escape the metaphorical storm that looms overhead he beautifully describes his old drug habits and how he hid beneath a doped-up shell.

“Been medicated, meditated

Sedated, hated

Character assassinated, all theses years I masqueraded

Hard headed, if it was on my mind I had to say it

Tongue on the devil’s pitchfork to see how disaster tasted.”

The articulation and conviction that Joe puts into each word makes every sentence sound like a release from the pain contained within it. The structure of the songs is perhaps another way in which it could all be interpreted as the least dark entry in the series. They periodically begin with Joe pouring out his inner darkness, or that of his past and then they lift up into a chorus that has the weight of a feather, flipping the mood on its head. The albums all winds down to its carelessly optimistic ending that seems fitting for a guy like Joe Budden who has seemingly been through it all. ‘If All Else Fails’, Joe will envy all the things he currently despises as he reverts back to his hood antics in his studio apartment dealing with the same lowly problems of everyone else on his block – and he is confident that he would be fine doing that after looking through the glass from the other side of fame. Joe’s life may be strides, oceans or even worlds away from beautiful, but the music he has turned it all into is something so much more.

8.0

New Music, News

New Music: Wax – “Hypnotic”

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BY TER STAFF

Courtesy of Complex
Courtesy of Complex

With his new album, Livin’ Foul, less than a month away from release, Wax gives us a brand new single – and trust me, this song bangs. A chorus destined to get stuck in your head attached to a concussion inducing, percussion-heavy production. Make sure you don’t miss the new album when it drops October 23rd.

Stream ‘Hypnotic’ below.

Continue reading New Music: Wax – “Hypnotic” →

Reviews

EP Review: Big Grams | Big Grams

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Big Grams
BY EVAN VOGEL

Sometimes you have things come before you in life that not even your imagination can piece together its perceived quality. Could be good, could be Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it”, is a common expression for supporters of the new, interesting and potentially life-changing. Now, when I came across Phantogram (now one of my favorite electronic groups) on Big Boi’s undeniably experimental 2012 album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, I was gleefully anxious. Meshing genres is nothing new in the realm of sound; but to take two extremely distinct, creative sounds and to unify them, is no small feat. A feat, nonetheless, that they recently attempted to duplicate.

It had been years since we had heard anything from the nameless, genre-less troupe. Then, as if by fortuitous happening, a song by the name of ‘Fell In The Sun’ hit the net via a group named, Big Grams. Realizing shortly after that this name is a lazily simple melding of the two separate stage names, all I could do was hope the music wouldn’t be so uninspired – and for the most part, it succeeds.

The EP takes off with ‘Run for Your Life’, a song that starts things off on a pretty low-key note. A distant snap of drumsticks colliding provides a simple enough rhythm for Big Boi to lay some of his playful Daddy Fat Sacks bars over. When the chorus reveals itself to us through the airy vocals of Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel it sounds like what you’d expect. While both parts sound singularly good, the track lacks some creative cohesion. From here on out though, that problem quickly fades away as the creativity flows into an ever-increasing current.

The second track, “Lights On’, capably eliminates any negatively juxtaposing elements. Especially evident is the highly melodic rapping from Big Boi. By the time we hit the third track, Big Grams has fully surfaced. ‘Fell In The Sun’ simultaneously overlays Sarah’s light vocals with Big Boi’s lyrics. The production is consistent and has enough Atlanta-esque hip-hop elements reformed within Phantogram’s signature psyche-pop style to allow for a seamless integration. Following right behind is a sample-laden production from 9th Wonder on ‘Put It On Her’. Big Boi smoothly puts down some suave bars about his classy demeanor that leaves women clamoring at his feet. The seductive chorus separates Big Boi’s slick utterings from Josh Carter’s, highly electronic attempt at rapping. While Josh’s style would have little chance of carrying the weight of an album by itself, here, I personally like the variation of the verse – and rhythmically, it is on point.

From bouncy, down-to-earth cadences to intergalactic synthesizers, the production spans both genres without ever being spread too thinly. The final two tracks have Big Grams opening the doors to other masters of their respective genres. Run The Jewels two-piece, Killer Mike and El-P make an in-your-face appearance on ‘Born To Shine’, while Skrillex lends a hand on club-suited banger, ‘Drum Machine’. It’s an intense and fitting end to an EP that took two separate musical entities and amalgamated them, forming something entirely new. While this EP came from nowhere and serves us only a 26-minute platter of creativity, all of its moving parts form a concise, unified whole that is almost always unique and works on more levels than it falters. Which leaves me with one question. Was this was a one-time outing or will it be known as the first breaths of a potential super group?

7.7

Reviews

Album Review: Sorry | Meg Myers

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Meg Myers
BY EVAN VOGEL

Growing up isn’t always easy and it is now apparent to me how vastly different everyone’s lives can be. Sounding like an electrified, version of 90’s alternative music, Meg Myers’ debut album is an emotionally saturated powerhouse of sound. Sorry is a concise, pouring out of emotions. It discusses what many people consider simple emotions with such daring complexity that it eventually has you looking at every aspect of your psyche from a new angle. Both completely honest and relentlessly brutal, her goal is not to lament the past but to learn from it and grow.
 Album opener, ‘Motel’ starts off with reinforcing statements regarding Myers’ sadness. She clearly struggles with the more unsavory aspects of her life which is now headed towards stardom. It’s hard not to empathize with her struggle as she belts out, “I wanna love, wanna live, wanna breathe, wanna give, wanna. But it’s hard and it’s dark and were doomed from the start.” A pessimistic naturalist’s sort of interpretation of the world when trying to be optimistic. It is a lot of moving thoughts that all end up coming across as honest.

Myers’ honesty is perhaps her strongest ally (other than her incredible voice), as she is capable of turning her own sadness and sorrow into music that sounds more like a breathe of empowerment than a bath in sorrow. The title track, “Sorry”, is the perfect example of this occurrence as it it maneuvers its way around the subject of an afflicting break-up via its electronic elements and 1000-volt chorus. She has transformed her fears into energy on ‘A Bolt From The Blue’, creating a sound well equipped for mainstream pop-radio – albeit one with dark undertones.

Bass guitar skills rear their head on the threatening sound of ‘Desire’, which is a rock-influenced uncomfortable yet sexy journey into Myers’ sexuality. From this point, the instrumentation on the project succumbs to a quicksand-like hold. Drums and guitars comprise the more generic makeup of the latter half of the emotional outing. While it all sounds good and perhaps better fits the subject matter covered, it represses the lively energy contained in the first half beneath slowly articulated guitars and violins. There are moments, ‘Lemon Eyes’ and ‘Make A Shadow’, that provide the same adrenaline potent build-up and choruses that Myers is fitted to command.

The album’s content isn’t by any means edgy in its meaning. Infact, its meaning is so easily relatable that it can become uncomfortably edgy in its honesty. Relationship and break-ups have been commonplace among song topics for as long as any person can remember. The beauty isn’t in the details – rather, it lies within the vagueness of her pen downed emotions. Instead of detailing what happened in her relationships, she places almost all of the emphasis on her brokenness and turns it into her freedom by the time the last eerie, scratching second of ‘Feather’ rolls out from your speaker.

8.2

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday Review: Return Of The Boom Bap | KRS-One

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krsonereturnoftheboombap
BY EVAN VOGEL

There’s not much to say about this album that hasn’t already been mentioned in one hip-hop conversation or another. It was KRS-One laying down real, meaningful, aggressive lyrics and injecting them with heavy bass-lines and snappy snare drums. The album came at a progressive stage in hip-hop with Nas dropping Illmatic, and groups like Wu-Tang Clan putting out 36 Chambers. Lyrics started to sound like fine cutlery slicing through sociopolitical issues and other MC’s.

KRS-One retained the ‘rock the crowd’ mentality of a true MC and yet challenged other artists lyrically in ways that hadn’t been done before. With the loss of his close friend and one-third of the Boogie Down Productions group Scott LaRock, KRS-One starts his record off with a compilation of productions from the group on album opener ‘KRS-One Attacks’. Track two, ‘Outta Here’ drops in like a semicolon; separating old from the new. What follows is a four-minute annex looking in first-person view at the history of KRS-One and BDP. DJ Premier hooks up the beat and KRS-One charges it with lyrical proficiency.

His first foray into social conversation comes on ‘Black Cop’ where he satirizes the idea of black men working in a profession that has  never been on their side. He embraces his inner-reggae artist annunciating his lyrics like an angry Jamaican.

“You never will conquer the champion.”

The first words you hear on ‘Mortal Thought’ and a statement that KRS-One goes on to reinforce throughout the album on ‘Sound of da Police’, ‘Mad Crew’ and ‘Return of the Boom Bap’. Lyrically, rhythmically, any way you spin it, KRS-One is on the top of his game. He speaks like a prophet and takes on the role of hip-hop’s messiah hoping to inject diving inspiration into his peers. He challenges them in turn by challenging himself. There are very few moments on the LP that sound proportionally uninspired and even when they do, they are as fun as weed-dream recollection, “I Can’t Wake Up’. The staple elements of boom bap light the fire while the small electronic additions combined with KRS-One’s frenetic vocals are gasoline to the flame.

KRS-One even lends his own hand to the production on Doug E. Fresh inspired track, ‘Uh Oh’. The beatbox fashioned track has KRS-One directing his delivery at white kids embracing the gangster lifestyle even though they basically grew up living in the same neighborhood as Ferris Bueller, metaphorically of course. His story here comes in a refreshing third-person style and his story is a wake-up call for anyone glorifying a lifestyle that they don’t understand. Whether it is his lifestyle, the lifestyles of people in different neighborhoods, his fearlessness in the face of rap opponents or social injustice, KRS-One is consistently clarifying something through his own understanding.

Cohesively, the album comes together sounding like a hip-hop how-to-guide for the future from the mind of one of the pioneers of the genre. He is efficient with his clarity, both in what he is saying and in how he says it. His syllables are noticeable, which is to say each word hits as hard as the album title suggests. Putting it all into perspective, I think it is fair to say that KRS-One and specifically this project blazed a path through the incredibly saturated sound of the industry at the time and reminded people everywhere what hip-hop was capable of sounding like.

9.2

New Music, News

Album Review: HAYAMI | Bloque

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BY EVAN VOGEL
BY EVAN VOGEL

My favorite part about what I do is being able to discover new talented artists. Every so often I come across an artist that is making music beyond what their experience level typically allows. Enter Bloque, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from The United Kingdom who may have just released a project that could be destined to end up on, “Most Underrated Albums of 2015” lists across the world. We have been keeping tabs on Bloque’s progress since the release of his track ‘Purple’ earlier this year. Knowing that his new project, HAYAMI was slated for release in September and after hearing a few of the singles…let’s just say that expectations were high.

Upon pushing play, you are met with an almost eery and calm piano number that is shortly combined with the low resounding rumble of a synth on ‘Glory’. From there, elements are added to the production as if guised as Russian nesting dolls. Bloque comes through with a clear command of his verses and talks about the selling power of ignorance, acknowledging that many artists craft their lyrics around things that they are unfamiliar with, referencing drive-bys. Halfway through the song he states and immediately reiterates, “It’s only human to fear me”, a bold statement for a new artist, but this emission of confidence is followed by the fading sound of a high-pitch piano note into nothingness and it returns as an explosion of bass and sound that is one of the best sounding productions of recent memory. Equal strides, Kanye and Travis Scott, only two-minutes in and it is obvious this album’s production alone will justify a listen-through.

On the tail end of the opening track, we catch a glimpse of Bloque’s singing style which is comparable to a certain Toronto artist by the name of Drake. On the following track, ‘Two Times’ we get a Bloque in full crooning mode. The formula is very representative of the style that many multi-faceted artists have been taking as of late; sentimental hook followed by bluntly delivered verses that are strung together by airy bridges to contrast. The contrast is isolated to occurring mostly only within each separate song. The production is varied and layered enough to be consistently engaging yet it all definitely occupies the same realm of thought and sound. Songs meld together thanks to these similarities and it creates an atmosphere that surrounds the entire work.

Topics are personal to Bloque’s past and his descriptions don’t often focus on details, but rather his emotions in those situations. He recollects his intimate encounters with women whom freely indulge in hard drugs. It is a very interesting perspective as he sings on ‘Purple’, “Cocaine and codeine I hope it don’t hurt you.” His observance becomes a point of introspection when he realizes these women do drugs to hide from the very demons he is hiding from them or perhaps himself. Bloque also puts you blindfolded in the passenger seat of his whip as he cruises around his neighborhood and paints an abstract lyrical picture of what it looks like. Over time, his abstractness can become a bit vague and the words lose some of their weight. The momentum is maintained through the stellar production and Bloque’s command over the rhythm.

His style seems to extend from a varied collection of influences. It bears close resemblance to the sound Future has been likened to over the last year or so. Progressiveness. That is the best word I can use to describe what Bloque embodies. He clearly has a lot to say about love and life and is capable of doing it in a way that hasn’t been iterated dozens of times before. His words and emotions are packaged in a way that make interpretation necessary. The album’s productions can both glide by soothingly and expertly induce an elevated heart rate within the same song. This project is representative of a lifestyle and geographical location that many of us will never experience, told in a way most of us have never heard. For now, Bloque represents the music scene a world apart in the UK; after a project of this caliber, it is certainly time for us to start representing him over here.