‘So Many Feelings’ is grown-folk music that speaks on topics like relationships, commitment, and marriage. Song of Solomon vibes are strong on this. If you’re immature and not creative, you might not rock with this dope work of art or certain biblical passages. [Warning: Explicit – Made For Married Couples/Adults]
iTunes link HERE.
Google Play link HERE.
Spotify link HERE.
Social media: @VanessaHillHTX @AmishoBaraka @116BeatBreaker.
Cover art by @BlackRoseTheArtist.
Swoope - Sonshine
I’ve always appreciated how Swoope cares about fluidity in his albums. It’s evident to me that he chooses to pull in elements from the next song at the end of the current song in order to make everything flow together.
On “Never Left” Natalie Lauren (fka Suzy Rock) brings in the theme right away. The beat is full of brass and a lot of synth layers. I feel like the beats on this project tell a story. Swoope treats the beats with as much intentionality as he does his flows and how his performances grow, the beats are a performance in themselves. Beatbreaker brought some heat on this track, and that switch up in the back half of this song is bonkers. The flow here is on point too.
“I’m an Anomaly/Check the gold plaque/’Crae, tell ’em we still follow Jesus/They can hold that/I’m back like a chiropractor off of vacation/Couldn’t come home ’til I covered all my bases/It’s it’s least I could do, like I’m working out of Avis/Eyes on Zion, unplug from the Matrix/Now I’m back”
“Old Me” begins with an old-school piano vibe and bass samples. There’s some record static on the track, and it feels a little old school. Wordplay has always been a strength of Swoope’s. This track is nuts with the wordplay. I want to decipher all the lyrics for you here, but how about you just go listen. He straight brings it on this tune with no hooks.
“TSNK” is another old-school vibe at the top. For some reason, it reminds me of the movie Scarface. TSNK stands for “Thou Shalt Not Kill” and it’s an important track. Not only because he’s speaking on injustices, but because he points to how murder isn’t right for anyone to have to deal with.
“It’s not a feeling any mother should feel/That’s why the Father said “thou shalt not kill”/It’s good cops, I’m just looking for balance/Can we stop hashtagging caskets please?”
“Way Up” is an interlude but picks up topically where that last one left off. One day Jesus is coming back and will renew everything. This track ends with a conversation that continues into the beginning of the next track. Fluidity on point.
“Black Boy” is chilled out with some soul samples and piano beds. Again there’s so much wordplay and meaningful words, and again the beat progresses naturally along with the performance of the flow. This song is talking about how to grow up into a man, and how the black boy is a king.
“You Got Me” is a song we all need to hear, about how our Father will never stop loving us. Here Swoope switches back and forth from singing to rapping. While this tune has a modern vibe, I love how he won’t waste an entire song by singing. It’s in this way that he gives us what we want. Some of us like to see versatility, and on the other hand, some of us just want to hear a tight flow. Taelor Gray is the only emcee feature on the album and lights it up. I have nothing bad to say about any of this.
With next to no features he shows he can carry an entire project all on his own. Throughout “Sonshine” the creative direction is on point, the topics are fire, the fluidity, writing, and performances are all above the bar. This is a slam dunk album for me.
Deepspace5
The Blueprint 3 Outtakes
Jay-Z's album, The Blueprint 3, was one of 2009's most successful mainstream releases. During its pre-production stages, freelance producer/beatmaker Alex Goose composed some tracks that that he submitted to Jay-Z in hopes that he would use them on The Blueprint 3. Unfortunately for Goose, none of his beats made the cut, despite their quality and the fact that they sounded like beats you would hear on a Jay-Z album. But Goose was so proud of these beats that he had to share them, and he released them as a free download on his website for anyone who wanted them. This is where Deepspace5 comes in. While working on The Future Ain't What It Used To Be, they took time off, got Goose's tracks (which he titled The Blueprint 3 Outtakes), and composed thirteen fabulous hip hop tracks.
DS5's version of The Blueprint 3 Outtakes (which keep the same title) features five of the seven emcees in the group (there's no Listener or Sev Statik on this mixtape). Despite the release being so out-of-nowhere and having no record label backing, it's still as high quality of an album as DS5 fans have come to expect. Fred B is at the top of his game in "We In Here" and "Goose Needs This" (originally titled "Hova Needs This" on Goose's mixtape). sintax.the.terrific gets his own track on the low-key "Dear Daisy," and the similarly-titled "Dear Winter" gets the similar, one-emcee treatment with the similar-sounding manCHILD, getting a minute to himself. Sivion leads off the thumping beats of "No One Rides For Free," rapping about the free gift of "grace and eternity," while also tearing up the opening track "We In Here."
Playdough and manCHILD are featured most prominently in this mixtape, both appearing on nearly every track. What's interesting is that, while each of the emcees have their own flow style, and they do their own thing here as well, Playdough and manCHILD change theirs up a little. It's definitely due to the beats, which don't really reflect most (or any) of what you'd hear on their own albums. And they both do a great job adapting. Playdough's style seems to have changed the most. The mixtape highlight "Goose Needs This" showcases his usual sound (reminding me a little of his solo track "Don't Drink The Water"), but "Check Me Out Now" has him doing more of a gangsta sound, and his verse in "Brakes" makes his sound comparable to Jay-Z (appropriately enough).
You know you can always count on Deepspace5 to produce a fantastic album. Goose's beats were fresh and clean by themselves, and adding DS5's verses only made them better. Read More Here
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