Rating:
  Review Date: June 4, 2008
  Website: Everliven Sound Website
  Label: Freedom Entertainment

Everliven Sound “Freedom” Album Review
Looking at the state of things, I made a prediction recently that many of the independent hip-hop releases to come will be early-to-mid-90s inspired, politically based albums. It’s crazy how, as soon as I made this forecast, I got an album called “Freedom” by a crew called Everliven Sound. Everliven Sound is made up of Cymarshall Law (Rawkus 50) and Skit Slam; and on this release, both deliver an up-tempo, jazz-filled Poor Righteous Teacher sound - all with a message of sovereignty within the hip-hop game and the world alike.  

It’s only right that hip-hop mirrors what our society is going through, so my immediate thought when getting an album titled “Freedom” was that the artist who released the project would speak on how we are trying to get freedom; how we have been deprived of it; and what we need to do to get it. Though not as thorough with the political commentary as I would like in titling an album as such, Everliven Sound provides a good head-nod album that has more than the usual “guns, hoes and money” concepts like many of their mainstream counterparts.

Many of the tracks on this album bang, with creative and soulful vibes that at times take me back to when Pete Rock and CL Smooth were reminiscing. The sample selection compliments the styles of Law and Skit well; both rhyme comfortably over the tracks with minimal if any awkward moments. The highlight of this album lyrically and production-wise is Freedom with excellent lines such as:

If you can’t see what their doing/
You are a fool my friend/
The system confusing men/
Exploiting our culture…/
If hip-hop is dying/
Why you not avoiding the vulture/
We used to make music with a message/
Fight for a cause/
Now its time to take back what is yours/

Other stand-out tracks include The Past for the Gangstarr/DJ Premier styled beat, Green Cream for the innovative use of an Italian song as a sample, and So Cruel, which takes me back to the days of Pac. This album features Wordsworth, Pacewon, Marylou, and Ty Chee. The bottom line – “Freedom” is worth the buy, especially if you are or have been a fan of any of the aforementioned artists.

-ScholarMan

Album Track Listing:

1. 1. Freedom
2. Rush To The Front
3. Work Hard
4. Dying Breed feat. Pacewon
5. Green Cream
6. The Past
7. What If feat. Wordsworth
8. Outside Ya Front Door
9. Tings Clear
10. So Cruel feat. Marylou
11. Que Sera Sera feat. Ty-Chee
12. Original Rudeboys
13. Here To Stay