Sparkingtin x Soulslicers – The Exit Started It (2011)

Artist: Sparkingtin x Soulslicers

Album: The Exit Started It

Source: Soulslicers.com

Tracklisting:

01. Intro
02. Life Of A G feat. El Lay
03. Punchn’ Clockn’
04. Punch You In The Face For No Apparent Reason feat. El Lay
05. Thinkn’ Free’em
06. I Know This Is What U Want
07. Tickn’ Time Bomb
08. Outro

Note:

The Soulslicer’s are busy.  Not too long ago they released their awesome album, Boost Da Soul.  Now they uncover or rather spotlight, this really gifted emcee, Sparkingtin.  This EP is a real gift right here.  You have some gritty Soulslicer’s production introducing the world to a true talent.  Music and the internet work again to create this combo from across the seas.  The Soulslicers hail from Switzerland and Sparkingtin from the hip hop bedrock, Harlem, NY.

Now notice, I mentioned the “gritty” production.  I focus on that word because Boost Da Soul was really eclectic.  There were a lot of different sounds going on there.  But now the production team has narrowed their scope to something a little bit harder and they pull it off beautifully.  That is much to the liking of Sparkingtin.  His flow and lyrics are on some of that rugged-n-raw flavor and fit perfectly with what the Soulslicers have done here.

My anthem for at least the next few days is going to be Punch You In The Face For No Apparent Reason.  What a great name for a song!  We all feel that way at some point in time. We just want to swing on someone for  no apparent reason. The production is stripped down with some knocking drums and some guitar strings to provide an impressive backbone to the track.  Sparkingtin and El Lay both lay some tough verses over this beat.  This song is very reminiscent of some of that mid-90s hip hop.

The second track off of the album, Life Of A Gee, is another indicator of the talent that both producers and emcee share.  This beat just screams “wow”.  It’s got that eerie, gutta appeal.  Simply nasty.  The Soulslicer’s really brought the hammer in with that bass drum and the creepy synth.  And check out some of these bars from Sparkingtin:

Gave em unexpected hits / I’m giving out spankings / Hate me now,…later you’ll be thanking / me, for these hits / I’m taking to the bank and / Made off better than Bernie, economy is tanking

It’s not overly intricate, but Sparkingtin has that certain “it” quality when the words just start flowing.  As I listened to the EP a few times, he reminds me a little of Mister Voodoo from Natural Elements with his flow and voice.  That’s a good thing in my book.   He recalls something great and that we all loved from mid-1990s New York boom-bap era.  The whole EP has that feel about it.   This feels like it came directly from that era yet remains entirely relevant to the hip hop scene today.  I would certainly suggest that you give these artists your attention.   These guys crafted an EP that has probably been attempted over a hundred times by other artists within the last year.  Finally someone got it right and put theory into practice.