L*Roneous – The Cliff Notes EP (2011)

Artist: L’Roneous

Album: The Cliff Notes EP

Source: Twitter

Tracklisting:

Note:

The man is just not done yet, and I for one am glad to see so much productivity from my friend from the Left Coast. I was caught off guard when I saw, The Cliff Notes being pushed on Twitter a few days ago but I gave it a listen as soon as I could.

Now, with some artists, I really have to consider whether or not I am going to actively promote their material. They might have two good releases and then put together something less than stellar. L*Roneous, however, always delivers a premium product. And one of the reasons he will always be promoted on HHD is because he is unique. No one on any coast sounds like LR. He has a sound all unto himself. He doesn’t sound like anyone on a mic past or present.

The project really brings an introspective nature to every verse he spits. I am always trying to derive meaning from his words and phrases which in turn always keeps me interested in his lyrics. Nothing is to straight forward but nothing is cryptic either.

The first cut I want to sink the proverbial teeth into is Desperado. LR’s sing-song chorus over some light guitar chords and horns gives the track a sense of musical resiliency that I was able to identify with. Life can be a lonely road at times but there is always a sense of overcoming adversity and self-empowerment laced in the bars. There always seems to be this duality within L*Roneous’ rhymes. This track has a melancholy feel about it but you get the sense that the emcee is hopeful and is going to be alright. The flow that this song possesses seems so effortless that you realize how much God given talent this artist has.

The next track, Funny How Life Goes, brings in some jazzy horns over what almost sounds like a light xylophone and cymbals. This is my favorite track from the EP because everything gels so well. The production and the lyricism are so well in tune with one another. The track features the very unfamiliar (to me) Fluent and Gigio. But you know what, the two guests turn out to be pretty dope with contrasting styles to LR.

A Cold Day gives the listener yet another opportunity to look through the eyes of LR as his first narrates the tale of an unnecessary killing in his city from his bus stop look out. The second verse takes a pragmatic yet very depressing outlook on the way things are going in that very city. L*Roneous depicts a community just “trying to stay out of the dirt” as he uses his music as a vehicle to stay out of the mayhem the he so vividly portrays. This one of those songs where LR seems more like the painter on a canvas rather than an emcee, His rhymes are so fluid that to type his verses just seems so bland but the chorus on the track should give you the mood:

So cold feels like I can never be warm again…

L*Roneous sounds so comfortable on a record. The feeling I get off of this EP, and all of his other material for that matter, is that he makes each track his own. He just feels very comfortable in the cut. Some artists can sound out of place from time to time but that is never the case for LR. What you get out of The Cliff Notes EP is some well thought out perspective on what happens on the streets and in life. He is able to combine a keen eye for his surroundings with the linguistics of a poet.

If you dig his free music, make sure you spend a little cheddar on the man’s album, Notes Of The Righteous Outlaw.