Strong Sounds
5
By izar730
This album is “the real deal.” At first I approached the album skeptically, since I hadn’t heard of this group before. But if there is justice in the music world, this would be on everyone’s top ten. First, the beats are hot. Every track is heartfelt, and you can hear that integrity in Zeeb’s beats and Malabar’s voice- none of it is over-produced or under-produced… just straight up head-nodding and hip-shaking goodness. Rhymes are jaw dropping—sophisticated, intelligent, yet not over-done, with inspiring political content, smart allusions to mainstream hip hop artists’ and their audiences’ confusing creativity with cash/celebrity, talk of immigration struggles, class struggles... Yet despite this critical or political content, the album isn’t preachy or negative- the content and delivery somehow avoid this-- the clever production makes clear that the first goal and message of the album is good music, and there are some poetic tracks celebrating love and life that are soft yet strong enough to make girls like me get goose bumps.
Delivery is always on point- it has some super catchy stylized moments, is pretty diverse, can hit hard, angry and sharp, soft and deep … The beats are overall flawless, never boring, always completely original. It’s rare that beats speak to me just as much as rhymes do- Zeeb seems to be some kind of master of soundscapes, with attention to detail sensitive ears can appreciate. The beats and rhymes don’t compete with one another- they just complement the heck outta each other. I hear the song “Coffee and Cigarettes” in my mind playing over and over. Although I know this would satisfy even the most particular hip hop fan, it has sensibilities that cross over to any urban audience (a coworker of mine who wouldn’t have anything to do with “hip hop” overheard me playing the album at work, and even she loved it). Some people might treat this album as a timely reminder of what hip-hop should be— but it’s actually even better and more original than that—it pushes hip-hop to something beyond what I thought it ever could be. I can’t say enough good things about this album.
