Rating:
  Review Date: December 17, 2007
  Website: One Be Lo Website
  Label: Subterraneous Records

One Be Lo “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.” Album Review
I’m a hip-hop giver, man. What can I say? I carry around this flash drive with my favorite underground hip-hop albums on it. I give them to my friends and family who are hip-hop heads also. I guess I just think it’s a nice thing to do. From my standpoint, there’s no better gift than some dope hip-hop – some shit you don’t know exists, but couldn’t imagine never hearing.

Because of this, the holidays are some of my favorite times. Every year I pick out my official holiday hip-hop album of the year – usually right around a week before Christmas. I get a copy for both of my brothers, my homies who don’t have access to much of the underground, and a couple to some beloved haters who only listen to the radio and then complain that hip-hop just ain’t what it used to be. I like to give it to them for Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or New Years.

This year’s holiday pick is One Be Lo’s “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.” If you’re looking for something to get your fam, or just some late stocking stuffers for the kids, I highly recommend this album. It is yet another brilliant creation by one of hip-hop’s best lyricists, as well as a very comprehensive album that has something to offer for every type of hip-hop fan on your gift list.

Production
The production on “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.” shows quite an evolution from Lo’s last album “s.o.n.o.g.r.a.m.” – which contained all different beatsmakers, including tracks done by One Be Lo himself. For this album, Lo apparently decided to go elsewhere for production – and it made for an nice change. 

For the most part, Lo stuck with jazzier laid back beats that seem to best accentuate his lighter approach on the mic – stretched out baselines, symbol crashes, and soulful samples. Texture’s Rebirth and House Rules, Eric G’s Snap Shot, and D.L. Jones’ Gray should hit for those of you who enjoy that soul hip-hop.

However, the middle of the album takes a little heavier approach, allowing One Be Lo to demonstrate faster-paced battleish vocals with crisper base, blaring horns, and electronic key or string riffs. Jake One’s Smash, Texture’s Headlines, Bean One’s War, and Vitamin’s D’s Don’t Sleep are the tracks that seem best fit to give you that head-nod-induced neck ache.    

Lyrics
Lyrically, there are few emcees that are above One Be Lo – and “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.” does little to change that. I continue to find myself rewinding track after track as creative verses catch my ear. The majority of the verses in this album are quotable, but some of my favorites are below.

Smash is a song about how mainstream recognition means very little, and proclaims that One Be Lo doesn’t need his album to blow to be considered successful. The following verse gives a great depiction of the mind state of an underground emcee more concerned with art than fame.

A starving artist recited, feel the hunger inside it/
So vivid when I spit it you picture – I didn’t write it/
I lived it/
Dollar signs don’t inspire these lyrics/
Gold diggers for the mic – so enticing I’m Givens/
Partaking the game survival of fittest/
Of course Tiger Woods with the club banging Titelist, get it?/
Got it? Good. Record it with Bonnie and mix it/
Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen – the mind of a chemist/
No green, pot of gold, isle of midgets/
I’m lucky just to see the rainbow – keep my eyes on the prism/
Intoxicated with colors, high and the sky is the limit/
I’m not flattered you biters, you can hire a dentist/

Headlines is a track about the things people do, and the events we read about in the paper. In that song, One Be Lo spits a creative verse from the point of view of a caveman thawed after thousands of years frozen in ice:

There was a caveman frozen in the ice/
But the greenhouse effects thawed his ass back to life/
He woke up in New York City to his surprise/
He couldn’t believe his nose, his ears, or his eyes/
Looking at the people he could tell something was wrong/
Watched the television and radio all night long/
Newspapers and magazines – something is wrong/
He said ‘They got technology/
And they got democracy/
But all I can see is chaos, monopoly/
Robbery, mockery, hypocrisy, debauchery’/

My favorite track on “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.” is Don’t Sleep, a song based on The Art of War and the teachings of Sun Tzu. The following verse gives a little advice on street philosophy:

These wild cats take more shots than Villanova/
That fiend will kill you over little rocks lil’ soldier/
Marching up the street – and he ain’t even focused/
Over the ocean/
He focused on the war up on the corner/
Swollen with a shogun assassin any moment/
That shit could pop soda/
This is like Coca-Cola/
The caffeine could keep you awake/
A cat nap could be a mistake/
Any cat could be the jake/
And anybody up in your face/
Could be a tortoise or a snake/
But remember the hare lost the race/

There’s really not a disappointment on this album in terms of lyrics, beats or flow. One Be Lo came correct with “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.” – an album that just flows from track to track and can play over and over again. You’d be crazy not to pick up a copy. Actually, pick up a couple. Give them to your friends for the holiday season – this album will make a great gift. Peace. 

Album Track Listing:

1. Rebirth
2. Born & Raised
3. Keep it Rollin
4. Smash
5. Headlines
6. War
7. Don’t Sleep
8. House Rules
9. Snap Shot
10. The G Gap
11. Gray
12. Hip Hop Heaven