stefanoneder Album Reviews, EP

Serge Severe & 5th Sequence – Boom Bap & Bars (2013)

Serge Severe & 5th Sequence - Boom Bap & Bars Vol. 1

Artist: Serge Severe & 5th Sequence

Album:  Boom Bap & Bars Vol. 1

Source: Artist

Tracklisting:

1. Strong Coffee
2. Hold It Down
3. It’s Like That
4. James Worthy
5. French Toast
6. No Love
7. Don Draper

Note:

Serge Severe is not about just sitting on one particular sound.  Over the course of the last eighteen months, Severe has solicited the talents of a variety of producers.   Boom Bap & Bars is the end result of building with the producer 5th Sequence.  The project initially comes off as perhaps jazzy and mellow but there’s also an underlying boom bap that exists in the sound.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews

Swollen Members – Beautiful Death Machine (2013)

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Artist: Swollen Members

Album: Beautiful Death Machine

Source: Artist

Tracklist:

01. Inception
02. Death to You (ft. Ill Bill, Slaine, & Vinnie Paz)
03. BAX WAR
04. King of Diamonds
05. Juggernaut
06. The Difference
07. River Monster
08. Mercenary
09. Colossal Beasts – (ft. Esoteric, Celph Titled, & Apathy)
10. Almost Famous
11. Death Warrant
12. Fear – (ft. Snak the Ripper)

Note:

Swollen Members has teased me for years with single after single for previous albums alluding to that elusive and dark sound that harkens back to their debut effort, Balance. What kept on happening is the singles would all ring true to that “dark” formula, but those previous albums would fall short of the overall sound that I craved. Sometimes it’s not fair to judge an emcee or a group on that original sound as things are supposed to evolve.  But I am only human, and in the case of Beautiful Death Machine,  Madchild, Prevail, and Rob The Viking have come full circle.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews

Demigodz – KILLmatic (2013)

Demigodz-Killmatic

Artist: Demigodz

Album: KILLmatic

Source: I Knew This Was Coming!

Tracklisting:

1.  Intro (Giants On The Earth) (produced by Apathy)
2.  Demigodz Is Back (produced by Apathy)
3.  Dumb High ft. Open Mic (produced by Apathy)
4.  Never Take Me Out ft. Termanology (produced by Teddy Roxpin)
5.  Just Can’t Quit  ft. Scoop Deville (produced by Apathy)
6.  Worst Nightmare (produced by DJ Premier)
7.  Can’t Fool Me  ft. Eternia (produced by Apathy)
8.  DGZ x NYGz  ft. Panchi of NYG’z & DJ Premier (produced by Chumzilla)
9.  Dead In The Middle  (produced by Apathy)
10.  The Gospel According To…  ft. Planetary of Outerspace (produced by Skammadix)
11.  Raiders Cap  (produced by Apathy)
12.  The Fallen Angels  (produced by Apathy)
13.  The Summer Of Sam  (produced by The Snowgoons)
14.  Tomax & Xamot  (produced by Will C.)
15.  Captain Caveman ft. RA The Rugged Man (produced by Teddy Roxpin)
16.  Audi 5000  (produced by Marco Polo)

Note:

I was modestly excited about this project. I say modestly because usually when a collective like this comes together for an album the expectations far exceed the product.  With that being said, that is not the  case with this album.  This album is incredibly refined with proper production and scintillating rhyme schemes.  KILLmatic is a complete project.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews

Sorry I Slept: V-Zilla – The A.D.D.I.C.T. EP

V-Zilla

Artist: V-Zilla

Album: The A.D.D.I.C.T. EP

Source: Unknown

Tracklisting:

Note:

Here’s another project that I have been holding on to for a while that deserves some recognition for being a really ill release.  Often times projects that drop around the holidays get lost in the shuffle and that’s really the case here.  I heard about it, listened to it, and meant to post something months ago but just fell short.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews

Sorry I Slept: Side Effect – Flyest On Papyrus (2013)

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Artist: Side Effect

Album: Flyest On Papyrus

Source:

Tracklisting:

1. Doin It
2. A Time Before Crack
3. Never Around
4. Cheaper To Keep Her
5. Fake Friends
6. Cyber Bully

Note:

I just recently became aware that Side Effect moved to my stomping grounds in Austin, TX from Philadelphia, PA.   I have been following his career for sometime so I am honored to have him in the Live Music Capitol Of The World.  I’ve always felt his flow and delivery.  He has a commanding voice to rock the microphone that deserves your attention.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews

Jesse Abraham – I Am Water (2013)

Abraham

Artist: Jesse Abraham

Album: I Am Water

Source: Artist

Tracklisting:

1. Overture
2. I Ain’t Sh!t – I’m The Sh!t
3. Back Off
4. Parallels ft. Emilio Rojas & TreZure EmpirE
5. You’re Not A Ghost Anymore
6. 1der 2der
7. Never Felt High Til Now ft. Nitty Scott, MC
8. The Scene
9. I’ve Tried ft. Chino XL
10. Brush Your Teeth
11. Gottdamn Superhero Penguin
12. Hurdles
13. Hi, Heaven
14. Die Holding Hands
Note:

Jesse Abraham is a model of convention.  Ok.  I hate to start off with a blatant lie but I felt the need to check to see if you really know who Abraham is.  If you had checked our previous review of Abrhams’ Bars & NoBull, you would understand that he is the anti-thesis of conventions.  Think of the most standard rhyme schemes and ideas and then toss those ideas from your mind as you begin to partake in I Am Water.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews, EP

Supastition – The Blackboard EP (2013)

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Artist: Supastition

Album: The Blackboard EP

Source: You Could See This Coming A Mile Away

Tracklisting:

1. The Blackboard (ft Faust & Shortee) (Prod. by Rik Marvel)
2. Daydream (Prod. by Veterans)
3. Indestructible (ft Faust & Shortee) (Prod. by M-phazes)
4. Rejoice (Prod. by Veterano)
5. Best Worst Day (Prod. by Dirty Art Club)
6. Yada Yada (Prod. by Marco Polo)
7. Expectations (Prod. by The Mighty DR; Scratches by Shylow)
8. Perfect World (ft Dominique) (Prod. by Croup)

Note:

I remember when I was told that Supastition was retiring as an emcee.  I was demoralized.  I thought to myself that he was a casualty of an unsupportive audience got tired of not being paid for the quality of his work.  I was fed up with “fans” of hip hop.    It was at that point that I started working more vigilantly on getting this blog started.  I wanted to promote dope hip hop artists and push the fan base to contribute to the art they so love and enjoy.  In essence Supastition is literally a major factor as to why I am typing this now.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews, EP

Rozewood – Seppuku (2012)

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Artist: Rozewood

Album: Seppuku

Source: Artist

Tracklisting:

1. Red Lotus Blossom (ft. Panic and Great Scott)
2. Live From NYC (prod. by The Alchemist)
3. Tristate Agenda (prof. by 9th Wonder)
4. Black Christ (prod. by Apollo Brown)
5. Dancing With The Devil (prod. by Josh Lamont)
6. Cloud Merger (ft. Hus and Smoovth)
7. Golden Angels (prod. by Apollo Brown)

Note:

This is one of those reviews that I was trying to get done weeks ago and then the sickness set in and I wasn’t really good for anything.  But here I am in reasonable health to let you know about this project Rozewood concocted at the end of 2012. Rozewood you may remember had a project reviewed over a year ago entitled Neon Paradise.  That was a really solid album.

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stefanoneder Album Reviews

Snake Hollywood – My Condolences (2012)

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Artist: Snake Hollywood

Album: My Condolences

Source: Artist

Tracklisting:

1. Warning Shot (Intro)
2. My Condolences
3. Thug Eulogy
4. iBang (ft. AbSoul)
5. Rollin (ft. George Wilson)
6. Return Of The King
7. Grindin’
8. Thug Eulogy (Finale)

Note:

Snake Hollywood’s first single sat in my inbox for a while gathering hard drive dust.  I had never heard of him previously and I thought he was probably more of the same ol’ same but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Snake Hollywood truly delivers one of the most compelling releases of 2012 .  Why is it compelling?  Well, the first thing that makes it so is that the artist is putting himself into every verse of every track.  He can be described as intense, There is no filler material.  There is no fluff.  It’s all vastly personal.  The second thing that I love about this EP is how he incorporates religious elements into his lines.  He does this in such a way that it mingles Biblical concepts with the street code.

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