Artist: Jermiside & Danny Diggs
Album: Quiet As Kept
Tracklisting:
1. How I Feel (ft. Destruments)
2. Book Of Rhymes (ft. Theory Hazit, K. Sparks, and DJ Mayhem)
3. Never
4. Bloodline
5. Life Lessons (ft. I-EL and DJ Mayhem)
6. The Depths
7. The Innocent
8. Thank You (ft. L-Marr the Star and Ill Poetic)
9. Victory Is Mine
10. Be Forever
11. Victory Is Mine (The Expert Remix)
12. Bloodline (Illustrate Remix)
Note:
When was the last time that you positively impacted by an album? Never? Months? Years? Well, I felt pretty damn good after I finished the first few listens of Jermiside and Danny Diggs’ new album, Quiet As Kept. Jermiside litters the album with introspection, insight, personality, and positivity. He blends a dose of real world pragmatism with an optimistic nature, while Danny Diggs keeps the music very organic and in more than one case…therapeutic.
Quiet As Kept, while filled with all of the aforementioned qualities, is not without the bravado of just being able to write some dope verses. On Book of Rhymes, Jermiside is accompanied by Theory Hazit and K. Sparks (2011 HHD Artist Of The Year) to create a song that is centered on the pure skill of being able to craft dope lines. And God endowed all three emcees with the gift of penmanship. I always say that it’s the small touches that make a good song great, and that punctuation mark is added by DJ Mayhem.
Never is a track that through it’s honesty and delivery I found inspirational. He wasn’t trying to be the beacon of light in the distance, but because he relates to the thought process of the ‘regular’ guy it simply connects. Throughout his verses he addresses this things that he never would do, never will get the chance to do, and never will have. There is an air of contentment through the knowledge. Check the sampling below:
But I never had a million smackaroos / So my balls and my word is all I ever had to lose / And I never had to choose / Spend my days smacking fools / Been told things that make me wish I never got the news / Because now I got the blues like Bobby Blue Bland / Disohnor my fam ain’t nothing I would probably do ma’am
The Depths is a song that is based on the karma that will occur in our lives. He perceives all of the unkind things that will happen to him during his life and what it takes to persevere those trials and tribulations. Danny Diggs applies a jazzy drum pattern with his trademark soul as Jermiside reflects rather cleverly:
…later the love of my life had got me in an awkward spot / Had to give up my family feeling like the Prophet Lot / Used to let my guard down, now my defense is Ronnie Lott / Found myself trying to recover good qualities I forgot / Anyway, the universe will turn how it see fit / It’s one of the hardest lessons to learn, it’s some deep shit / The things that we experience will have you saying ‘Holy Moses’ / And break you down like your bones stricken with scoliosis / The world is so ferocious / Full of hoaxes, sinners, overdoses, it’s colder than a winter solstice….
There is power in the chemistry between an emcee and the producer and because this is the second go around for Jermiside and Danny Diggs, that chemistry has reached a whole new level than what was even exhibited on Middle Classic. I think this project is more fluid, even to the point where Jermiside is the verbal articulation of Danny Diggs production. The music knows exactly what the verses are doing and vice versa. This album would be really hard to break down into various singles. It plays so well in one listen, I would hesitate to break it into parts. So enjoy the project and hopefully it will be something that serves you that much needed musical therapy.
Hip Hop Dependency 