Rating:
  Review Date: September 16, 2008
  Website: Random Website
  Label: RAHM Nation

Random “The 8th Day” Album Review
Back in 2006, I reviewed Random’s debut album “The Call.” I remember having such a hard time deciding whether to give the album a 4-star or 4.5-star rating. A 4-star basically means an album is dope, but if I kick the rating up to 4.5 stars, that means the album is likely to remain a part of my regular rotation. Some albums, for some reason or another, just continue to get plays in the future – while others just sit on my hard drive. And back when I reviewed “The Call,” I just didn’t think I’d still be listening to it in 2008. So I gave it four stars.

Ever since, I’ve slowly come to realize that I gave Big Ran the wrong rating. After the review I found myself listening to the album more and more – and it still gets plays to this very day. So a 4.5 would’ve been the more accurate rating. My bad Ran.

This time around, I found myself in a similar dilemma. 4 or 4.5 stars? But knowing what I know now, I decided to kick it up – both because I feel I owe Random his other half-a-star, and because I’m sure “The 8th Day” will remain part of my rotation in the future.

Random’s “The 8th Day” impressed me for several reasons. First, I respect how Random continues to be himself on the mic. He raps about things he knows and things he sees, and this can be seen from all the songs on his album that reflect the thoughts and experiences of a humble and thoughtful school teacher.

Second, I like how Random continues to evolve as an emcee and an artist. From the soulful “The Call” to the nerdcore “Mega Ran” to the more futuristic and electronically-influenced “The 8th Day,” the multidimensional Random keeps switching it up on us with new styles and sounds.

And third, I like how “The 8th Day” almost perfectly blends entertainment and intelligence, using a more storytelling-based lyrical approach to keep the listener’s attention while talking about conscious shit. While most of the songs talk about topics that are common, Random puts the topics into story form to give new perspectives and viewpoints.

One good example of this technique can be found in The Hush, a song about the oft-discussed topic of snitching and it’s perception in the hip-hop community. Random lays down three verses demonstrating different viewpoints on the issue, including the following verse about a gang member who failed to protect his own brother due to his unwillingness to be seen as a snitch:

One time I heard a story ‘bout this kid named Rick/
Cali raised, born off the sunset strip/
His brother Rashawn was a Southside crip/
But he wasn’t involved with it/
Was a straight A student ‘til he fell in love with the chip/
And suddenly his grades took a dip/
A college kid – had a four year scholarship/
Papa split, now they both fatherless/
Rashawn told Rick if the coppers hit/
‘Never snitch, tell them pigs the opposite’/
He saw what happened with Vic and the pics/
Now the dude’s pinched, and they ain’t heard from him since/
One day some bloods tried to ambush Rick/
Thought they caught him at the light in his dad’s old whip/
Crazy part is Rashawn knew about the hit/
But his famous last words was ‘I ain’t no snitch’/

Another good example can be found in Granny Smith, a track that uses a story about a student-teacher relationship to comment on domestic battery, flaws in the education system, and the mind state of young people. In the following verse, Random tells the story through the eyes of a teenager and shows a great attempt to interpret a kid’s perspective:

I’m on the bus seeing sights/
The city lights turning off signifying end of the night/
And see when you’re a teen everybody thinks you think you know it all/
Never thinking once in a while you might be right/
See I told pop he probably shouldn’t bring girls home/
I knew mom would catch him one day but he said leave him alone/
I never thought about them splitting up/
It must’ve been a million times mom dukes told him to get his stuff/
But at the end of the day she would retract it/
Had a lot about but didn’t have the spine to back it/
After they fight they always give me a gift/
That’s how I got this little iPod and these brand new kicks/
Can’t wait to get to school and see Mr. Brown/
He always knows what to say when the chips is down/
I ain’t even gotta tell him I’m stressed out/
But when I’m in his class I forget what I’m stressed about/

And finally, you’ll see more of this type of lyricism on Placebo, a track criticizing the pharmaceutical empire that feeds us drugs and medicine. The following verse breaks it down from the perspective of a depressed person who begins to question the hypocrisy revolving around our country’s drug laws:

I hate what I should love, love what I should hate/
Break what I should keep, and keep what I should break/
Forget what I should know, forgot what I should learn/
I done tried nothing, but I don’t know where I should turn/
I saw this drug yesterday on TV/
And something they described sound just like me/
I cry when I’m happy, laugh when I’m depressed/
Slept for eight hours and still need more rest/
Took a pill to curb my appetite/
The side effects could make me a hermaphrodite/
But I gotta get right, ‘cause time’s a wastin’/
Waiting for the placebo trying my patience/
Need that quick fix – tisk tisk/
Doctors and corporations get rich – I just get sick/
Sell it in the car, you America’s nightmare/
Put it in Walgreens, you a millionaire/

Now what’s funny about the preceding review is that I featured three songs that weren’t even my favorites on the album. The 8th Day, New Grind, Left Behind, On The Wall and Reset Button are all heaters that deserve attention, and every song on the album is worth a listen or two. I highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself. It could very well make your regular rotation for years to come. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. The 8th Day
2. New Grind
3. Left Behind
4. Fastlane
5. On The Wall
6. Skit 1
7. Placebo
8. Last Time
9. Reset Button
10. Exhale
11. Granny Smith
12. The Hush
13. Skit 2
14. If It Wenr’t For Bad Luck
15. On
16. Fly (Remix)