This is the second single off Reason’s new LP “Landlords And Lullabies,” which dropped today on Poorly Drawn Recordings. I Don’t Want To Build was produced by Falside, and is the second pre-release for the album along with Paid Bills. If you like this, check out Reason’s “Stalker Stories” EP – which was release for FREE a couple weeks back in preparation for the new album. Click below to listen to Reason’s I Don’t Want To Build:

[See post to listen to audio]

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

This is the first single off Reason of Poorly Drawn People’s new LP “Landlords and Lullabies,” which drops April 6 on Poorly Drawn Recordings. Paid Bills was produced by Falside, and is the first in a series of pre-releases for the album. If you like this, check out Reason’s “Stalker Stories” EP – which was release for FREE last week in preparation for the upcoming album. Click below to listen to Reason’s Paid Bills:

[See post to listen to audio]

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

Big ups to Storm Davis with the Poorly Drawn People/Strange Famous Records crews for sending this over. Reason is a talented emcee out of Rhode Island’s Poorly Drawn People crew (one of my favorite crews of the deep underground) who caught my eye with his ’07 debut album “Gemini Slang.” This is the only thing I’ve heard from his since, but upon first listen, it’s definitely worth the download. “Stalker Stories” features production by Falside, Dox of PDP and PhillipDrummond, with guest appearances by Storm Davis, Dirty Hank, Cas Uno, Esh The Monolith and Intrikit. Click below to download Reason’s “Stalker Stories” for FREE:

Download

Symmetry “Dusty Pickup” Album Review
Well, it’s official … Providence, Rhode Island is officially on my personal hip-hop map. From my perspective, a city has to have either three dope emcees or an upcoming label to hold a place on the map, and Providence has just reached both quotas. Last year, the city boasted Storm Davis, whose “Kegstand Poetry for the Recovering Alcoholic” held a spot in our top ten underground albums of 2006. Recently, Reason’s “Gemini Slang” made another favorable impression. And now, Symmetry and his exceptional album “Dusty Pickup” have solidified both Providence’s place on the hip-hop map and Poorly Drawn People’s place among upcoming hip-hop crews.

Most albums that are reviewed on this website are for one reason: They are albums that make me want to talk about something. The major problem I had with “Dusty Pickup” was that it made me think about several interesting topics, and I couldn’t choose just one. Therefore, I have decided to base this review on my three favorite Symmetry songs, and what each made me think about.

Hater
The opening track on “Dusty Pickup” is a song called “Hater,” which tackles the common theme of haterism in hip-hop by offering individual verses to so-called old school rappers, cliché rappers and gangster rappers who disregard other forms of hip-hop as lacking realness. Personally, I would probably be considered one of the old school followers who occasionally look down on the younger generation for lacking knowledge of the history of hip-hop. For such fans, Symmetry offers the following verse:

What up old school rapper, so-called purist?
Game’s outdated starting to get nervous
Style ain’t changed since the motherfuckin’ nineties
That’s far behind we
That ain’t being real
That’s not being ever too progressed with the times
You want some motherfuckin’ super fresh eighty-nine
And I don’t mind, just don’t preach to me
Hip-Hop’s not dead, it’s on a different frequency
A new thought that you cannot become accustomed to
And swear up and down that I’m not hip-hop as much as you
Well get the fuck out my way and let the young man
Grab the S up in the gate and rock it with my one hand
You just spit it like “You’re not as real as me”
And gon’ substitute your old age for credibility
I got respect for my roots and my elders
But not when they try to go indebted and be selfish

Symmetry makes a good point here about old school rappers who “try to go indebted and be selfish.” Many times us older hip-hoppers look down on the new kids and “substitute our age for credibility” for no other reason than the fact that we may have been a part of this culture before they were. In reality, it’s often us who are lacking realness, because we are denying the existence of evolution and growth in hip-hop. While I do feel that it’s important for the younger generation to understand and appreciate where this culture came from, it’s not fair to measure realness on something as insignificant as age or experience. No matter what style or direction, hip-hop is hip-hop, and we should try to appreciate and understand that a little better.

Back There
In track six, a song titled “Back There,” Symmetry uses rhyme to reflect upon three memories that made him miss his past. This intrigued me, because I have held a similar mind state recently. I moved across the country for the second time in my life this week, leaving behind family and friends for a new life in another city yet again. While driving my pimp ass Chevy Prizm through flat and boring Kansas, I found myself reminiscing about a lot of old times. Regardless of my excitement for a new adventure, I was sad thinking about my peoples and the experiences we’ve shared. With this in mind, one of Symmetry’s verses jumped out at me:

We never had shit to do
Just wake up and go to school
Straight fucking with the teacher trying to make her loose her cool
I turned around and son I already knew
She’d make me stay right there when the bell rings at two
Give me more homework, just a hassle of course
But I ain’t fucking with that, I’m on the basketball courts
With the older cats clowning; talking that shit
Wonder why a motherfucker cuss whenever he spit
A couple years ago I went back in my past
And seen my desk sitting right up in the back of the class
The basketball courts ain’t had no rims
And no trace of anybody like there was back then
No shorties on the side that’s watching they man ball
Then everything that used to be so big became small
A tear fell down from my eye, I said damn
It kinda hurt to go back there again

It seems like I’ve spent the last ten years moving around and trying to make something happen. While I do believe this is good, I often regret the fact that it has caused me to loose contact with my homies.

The preceding verse made me think about playing ball in high school with my two best friends, Henry and Jerome. Damn, man . the three of us used to be inseparable. I remember running game at Far East Recreation Center in Columbus everyday after school, walking like five miles home and clowning the entire time. Or when Henry fell of the top of the car and struggled not to cry when we poured half a bottle of peroxide on his wound and watched it bubble. Or when Romeo tried to be a baller and wore that suit to school, only to slip and fall in that puddle. Or when J Long tried to cross the field and got caught knee deep in the snow. HA! That shit makes me laugh just thinking about it. But as the homie Symmetry might say, “It kinda hurt to go back there again.”

She Asked
My favorite track on this album was titled “She Asked,” and it made me think about my grandmother. My grandmother, who is perhaps the most intelligent and open-minded person I’ll ever know, talks about religion and faith a lot. One of my favorite theories of hers is her Sabbath philosophy. In Christianity, the Sabbath is a weekly day of rest ordained by the Ten Commandments. Despite the fact that she is not a Christian, Grandma used to say that everyone needs a Sabbath. To her, a Sabbath is simply a day to yourself . a day of fun or rest or appreciation that all people need regardless of which religion they follow or what their beliefs. I always found it inspiring that she was capable of interpreting religion in a manner that best fit her beliefs and lifestyle. In “She Asked,” Symmetry takes a similar approach:

She said, “Do you believe in Heaven?” and I said yes
It’s when I get home from my work and I undress
It’s when I find a way to get away from the stress
It’s when I lay my head on my bed and then I rest
I never found it in a church
Never found it in the works
Of a way of life
Or in a book that somebody else writes
Cause Heaven is a place where the trees grow green
And the summer and the winter’s blowing through your window screen
I never walked around with my eyes fixated on the skies
I try to tell myself what could be lies
Cause then I wouldn’t notice everything that I’m in front of
If my head was in the clouds then I’d miss everything that’s under
I wonder what comes next
But it’s a bit complex
So family and friends get the number one respect
And cousin if you ever meet the man that you believe in
Tell him I’ll be doing me, and explain to him the reason

In this verse, Symmetry doesn’t claim to know “what comes next,” but creates a visual image of what it might be for him. Perhaps Heaven is some individualized place that is what you want it to be. Maybe it’s just a compilation of all our experiences and feelings. And to be honest with you, Symmetry’s version of Heaven doesn’t sound bad at all to me homie.

As you can see, Symmetry’s “Dusty Pickup” offers several bases for discussion while maintaining a high level of quality and creating an enjoyable listening experience. This kid is a talented and intellectual lyricist who covers a variety of topics and points of view. His style is both universal and specific as he experiments with a variety of flows and flavors while maintaining a consistent and contiguous sound. And once again, Poorly Drawn People’s resident producer Dox creates an album full of smooth and melodic beats that seem to bridge the gap between old and new school sounds.

Overall, Symmetry’s “Dusty Pickup” is one of the best underground releases of the year thus far. I highly recommend checking out the record, the entire Poorly Drawn People crew, and the newly acknowledged city of Providence, Rhode Island and it’s upcoming hip-hop scene. If you have a personal hip-hop map of your own, Providence just might be a good place to explore. Peace.

Reason “Gemini Slang” Album Review
From my perspective, a large percentage of the younger hip-hop generation seems to show inadequate respect to their hip-hop elders … the cats that started this culture. I guess that’s why I liked Reason’s “Gemini Slang.” This kid seems to have a lot of love and respect for the history of hip-hop, often quoting, sampling or referencing the Old School.  

In the opening track, he even ridicules new school hip-hoppers for their lack of knowledge of the history of hip-hop:

Every cat I’m talking to they got an album coming out
But never heard of Native Tongues; what the fuck is that about?

The high point of this album is undoubtedly the production. Dox of the Poorly Drawn People crew created an album’s worth of smooth and often melodical beats, with DJ Joey Wonk offering quality scratches when appropriate. And Reason displays impressive lyrical balance, often combining an aggressive battle-style with storytelling and introspection. You can tell from the start that Reason has some pretty obvious skill on the mic.

However, the young emcee could use some development in terms of flow, as his rhyme style gets a little repetitive and monotonous after a handful of tracks, which tends to take away from his attempt to spit conscious and meaningful lyrics as well come across as a passionate rapper.

Nonetheless, I could definitely see Reason developing into a great emcee in the future. As a member of Poorly Drawn People Recordings, a crew that is home to the skilled MCs Storm Davis and Symmetry (review coming), Reason will have the opportunity to age his skills and develop his own voice as an artist and rapper. I look forward to watching the progress of the entire Poorly Drawn People crew in the years to come, and recommend checking out Reason and his album “Gemini Slang.”

Album Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Gemini Slang
3. He Said She Said
4. East Sun Rising ft. Symmetry
5. Saturday Rain
6. Chain Reactions
7. Let the People Know
8. Happy Drunk
9. Dust on my Phone (A Memoir)
10. Another Chapter ft. Need Not Worry
11. Wonkerlude
12. Stickball Kids
13. Do Something ft. Storm Davis
14. The Process
15. Mass Amount ft. Dox
16. The Vaccine
17. Where I Stand ft. Symmetry

Storm Davis “Kegstand Poetry for the Recovering Alcoholic” Album Review
Everyone around me was interested in this album the second it came in the mail, mainly due to the title: “Kegstand Poetry for the Recovering Alcoholic.” I mean, we often hit keg parties around the way, and most of the people in my crew probably drink a little too much. And shit, while we’re being honest, I’m a pretty big pothead (I just like the chronic, yo … what can I say?). Therefore, an album that seemed to be based around substance addiction definitely caught my attention.

So I threw it in the car on the way to work one morning. Almost immediately after I jumped on the freeway, I hit a traffic jam. A bad one, too. A wreck had limited traffic to one lane, and I sat on 6th Avenue for like twenty-five minutes. Once I was able to merge onto I-25, I ran into another accident, and my usual half-hour drive quickly turned to an hour-and-a-half. But what’s worse is that I was trying to take some time off the smoke for a while, and was on edge a little. So I got all sensitive and heated over the whole situation . so much that I stopped paying attention to the new Storm Davis album and zoned myself out for the entire drive.

By the time I got home that night, my roommate wanted to know how that new album was: “Ay dogg, how’s that alcoholic album?” Although I hadn’t really listened to it, all I could say was . “Wasn’t really feeling it, man.” And that’s how it stayed.

A Second Listen .
Days later, I was running late and left my iPod at the crib. As I rummaged through my glove box, I came to realize that I had just one CD in the car, Storm Davis‘ “Kegstand Poetry.” With nothing else to try, I popped it in again and continued on my journey. Damn, man . I have never been so wrong about an album.

From the beginning, it became obvious that Storm Davis is not your regular underground MC. The production is unique and the beats utilize myriad sounds and instruments to create an amazing backdrop for Storm’s vocals. His intricately articulated rhymes stride through words of advice, experience, wisdom and metaphor, and show off a complex vocabulary and intellect. And his ability to experiment with multiple flows and vocals displays a wide range of styles and influences, both in and out of the realm of hip-hop. I haven’t taken it out of my CD player since, and am now placing it among the best underground releases of the year.

“Situational Attraction”
The whole experience made me think about my recent trip to Phoenix to visit family. Every time we go out there, my brother and I play eighteen holes of golf. This time, we got paired with an old retired couple that lives on the golf course. Now like many amateur golfers, my brother and I drink the entire time we’re on the course. By the end of the ninth hole, we had both killed four or five beers, and our games started to get worse and worse.

Around hole twelve, my brother pointed out the lady we were playing with while she was teeing off: “Dude, you can see her panty line . I’d hit that.” Now as much as I wanted to clown on the kid for checking out a fifty-something year old lady, I couldn’t necessarily disagree. She was looking aiight.

Days later, I explained the phenomenon to my man DJ Father Time, and he explained to me that it was a perfect example of a principle referred to as “situational attraction.” Obviously, this principle states that attraction is largely situational, and that people will be drawn to the most attractive person in the room based on comparisons of what’s available at the time. Since we were stuck on a golf course with just one lady for like five hours, getting drunk the whole while, it was only natural to start to check her out regardless of what she looked like or what her age.

Hip-Hop and Relative Truth
Now a similar theory was proposed in the 1960s by a social scientist named Karl Popper. Popper believed that all social sciences are subject to a certain degree of situational analysis, meaning that conclusions are based on several situational factors, including person, culture, time and environment, among countless others. And being based on situational factors makes something relative and therefore incapable of being absolutely true . at least in my mind.

My experience with the Storm Davis album is just one example of what makes Popper’s theory true from my perspective. Based on situational factors, I didn’t like the album the first time I heard it. My accepted truth was that it wasn’t any good. But after listening to it a second time, I couldn’t get enough of it, and had to reevaluate what I thought was true earlier. And from my elementary understanding, that is an example of relative truth. Perhaps all music is subject to these types of situational factors, and all it takes is a second listen under alternate circumstances.

So my point? Don’t listen to anything I say, or any of the other wack ass reviewers on the Internet for that matter. It’s all relative, meaning that what I’m not feeling might turn out to be your favorite album ever. And who’s to say how many good albums we’ve ignored just due to a negative situational analysis?

All I can give is my recommendations . and right now, I recommend Storm Davis‘ “Kegstand Poetry.” Pick up a copy and figure out your own relative truth as relates to hip-hop. Peace.