Rating:
Review Date: January 13, 2010
Website: Sleep Website
Label: Strange Famous Records

Sleep “Hesitation Wounds” Album Review
I heard of Sleep a couple years back when somebody emailed me some material from a Northwest hip-hop collective known as oldominion. But I never got around to listening to his music. Then recently, one of my connects over at Strange Famous Records sent me Sleep’s track Lothar, which I posted on HHL. Then about a month ago, when I stumbled across a video for Sleep’s Orchestra of Strangers, I was so impressed that I immediately picked up a copy of “Hesitation Wounds.” And I’ve been bumping the album regularly ever since.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It has a purpose – Very few emcees make albums with a purpose these days. Most just string together twelve to twenty tracks and call it an LP. But Sleep’s “Hesitation Wounds” came across as a well thought-out and planned album with direction and meaning. In the album’s Intro, Sleep drops the following verse about who he made this album for:

I made this record for the eager/
The weary, for the believer/
The dreamer, the future leader/
The living, the one beneath us/
The thinker, the timeless feeling/
The needy from an album meany/
The people without a means to an end and the system seeking/
For the mourning, the stressed out/
For the underpaid maxed out/
For the underdog, for the single mom in her mom’s guest house/
For the guy on the couch/
For the family who’s lights are out/
For the supporters, for the people who’s minds are in doubt/
For the down and out/
For the ones who got off route/
For the ones who are on course to find out what I’m talking about/
For the people living with regret/
For the people dying with it/
For the people trying to get by in these hard times we live in/

2. This album is motivational – One of the recurring themes that I picked up from “Hesitation Wounds” was motivation. Sleep talks a lot about the importance of working hard and staying on the grind. Tracks like Day Dreamer, Spent, Lothar, and Get It push this motivational vibe. The chorus from Day Dreamer talks about staying motivated despite hardships:

I’ll never lose all of my hope/
My dreams, my power, my heartbeat and the words that I wrote/
I had a dream of overseas before I could go/
And it’s a long way from New Mexico/
I’m a long way from New Mexico/
I’m a long way from everything that I used to know/
And I’ll never be the same once I chose to go/
I’m going only where my dreams can grow/

3. This album is self-analytical – One of the other things I noticed about this album was that Sleep uses his rhymes for a lot of self analysis, including taking responsibility for his actions and not making excuses. Tracks like Who To Point The Finger At, Hesitation Wounds, and So Far all touch on personal experiences, including both the trials and tribulations Sleep has experienced while chasing his dreams. The chorus from Who To Point The Finger At shows Sleep talking about his realization that he himself is the only person standing in the way of his dreams:

I’ll never run away from what I’m supposed to be/
Don’t let it control my destiny/
Won’t let the same things keep holding me back/
I notice these patterns, I had to dictate and try to counter react/
To think about what was keeping my dreams at arm’s reach/
What could it be?/
It was me! It was me! Me!/

4. Dude can spit! – It only took me a half-listen of this album before I realized that Sleep has some very impressive skills on the mic. He often raps fast, something very few emcees can do, while mixing it with conscious and intelligent lyricism. Tracks like Talk About It, Ginelli, Orchestra of Strangers, and Roll Call display up-tempo, battle-ish style rhyme spitting that have made me think that Sleep is definitely one of the more talented rappers in the underground today.

Overall: Pick up this album. It’s definitely a recent favorite of mine, and another in a long line of dope hip-hop releases from the Strange Famous crew. My favorite tracks include Ginelli, Orchestra of Strangers, Who To Point The Finger At, Get It, and So Far. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Day Dreamer
3. Talk About It
4. Who To Point The Finger At
5. Ginelli
6. Spent
7. Orchestra of Strangers
8. Hesitation Wounds
9. Commercial
10. Lothar
11. Get It
12. So Far
13. Roll Call