REVIEWS
AWOL One & Daddy Kev
Slanguage
(Mush)
I don't know what they've been putting in the water out in Cali, but
ever since seminal label Celestial wound up, Daddy Kev has been on a
one man mission to take it further. On Slanguage he's joined by Awol
One, the gravel voiced Tom Waits of hip-hop. The music is dense,
beautifully layered, with cuts from D-Styles used to chop it to pieces
and interludes that comes close to being free jazz. Awol scats and
sings through what sounds like stream-of-consciousness babble, but is
much more carefully constructed than that: "When you buy this album,
you'll find out what the meaning of life is really about/This will
probably be your bible/I will probably be your idol." A massive leap
forward for everyone involved. Release of the Month.
5/5 -- Will Ashon, Muzik
The new Slanguage album from Awol One and Daddy Kev is a journey into
the outer reaches of hip-hop, an album so musically and verbally
abstract, it's far beyond anything the underground could lay claim to.
That Awol is a white guy from LA means that he's that much more of a
hip-hop anomaly, as he's dishing out tracks that are far too freaked for
even the guys at Anticon. Expect dense, noodly turntable work. Expect
out-there found-sound experiments posing as backing tracks. Expect
lyrics -- "It's like a rat chewin' on it's own ass" -- that go nowhere.
Expect to be amazed. -- Jason Ferguson, Orlando Weekly
Rather than fall in line behind rap's traditional beats-and-rhymes
guidelines, this dynamic duo has stepped into an abstract realm of
creation where music and lyrics are simply relative elements, have no
real beginning or end and intertwine to create a pastiche of funky,
arty hip-hop. Drawing from the deepest wells of jazz, classical and
world music, Daddy Kev has constructed complexly layered and deeply
dynamic tracks, masked with the manipulative vinyl skills of the
ever-out there D-Styles. Awol One's delivery is wholly unique, and his
bent is seriously skewed. Though he does seem to be in love these
days, this Los Angeles underground emcee expresses mostly
dissatisfaction and anger -- with himself and the world around him -- in
a style combining rapping, speaking and singing. Though most
straight-ahead rap fans won't feel this release (try Souldoubt to
get jiggy with Awol and Kev), the beat heads will go bonkers. -- Max
Sidman, Synthesis.net
Left-field Angeleno hip-hoppers Awol One and Daddy Kev team up for a
forward-thinking experimental symphony of looped beats and free-jazz,
the same nonconformist strain that inspired the '50s beat poets,
coupled with a level of lyrical prowess that would have gotten serious
snaps from Allen Ginsberg. -- San Francisco Examiner
Awol One, Daddy Kev and D-Styles return with their third collaboration
in two years. Slanguage is a welcome 180-degree psychedelic spin into
classical, jazz, and opera, to create beats that most often deserve to
be instrumentals. Daddy Kev has neatly weaved one constantly changing
composition that is almost arbitrarily separated into tracks and given
song titles that couldn't be stranger if they were written by the
Invisibl Skratch Picklz. Like one sample says on 'Idiot Savant Autistic
Delivery': "I let the music take me where it takes me... the fun is
when you get the great moments." And Awol delivers. 'Bladder Sweat'
starts strong with double-time raps before flipping some other styles,
and 'Finger Paint with Bloodlike War Paint' puts great vocals over a
majestic choir and boom-bap. He even sounds like his old self on
'Mechanical Angel In Purgatory' while 'Bootleg Monster Movies' lets
loose the psychedelic funk in freeform to get the closest to the
strange and experimental side of Awol that first attracted me with Evil
Cow Burger's 'Live From Limbo'. -- Exclaim!
Los Angelino Awol One has been making bleeding-edge hip-hop music for
some time now, flying solo and into outer space as a part of the always
bizarre Shapeshifters crew. His voice, often described as one of the
most recognizable in "the underground," rasps near the breaking point,
though it's more Tom Waits than Tricky; a broken loom on which he
weaves his particular breed of vocal tapestry, a hip-hop of
non-sequiturs where each line is clearly unsure of what will follow
next. This style has led to reviewers labeling Awolrus' music as
"nonchalant," "impulsive," and "inconsistent," questioning his ability
to stay on-topic, or really whether he even has a topic at all. In 2001
Awol teamed up with producer Daddy Kev to turn out his most complete
album up to that point, Souldoubt, a straight-forward hip-hop opus
that ran the gamut from the jiggy 'Rhythm' ("people just want to have
fun / and all you suckas are so fucking temporary") to the grotesque
'Solitude' ("watch me cut my tongue out of my mouth / because I love
you"). Ironically, Slanguage, the Mush records-sponsored reunion of
Awolrus and Daddy Kev, is a dramatic departure from that sound. In
fact, its complexity and cohesiveness easily outstrips any of the
previous albums on which Awol has appeared -- this is an album that has
more in common with Doseone and Boom Bip's Circle or Sixtoo's
Duration than it does with other Awol releases. The soundscape
borrows liberally from free jazz, all upright bass notes, pianos,
horns, and schizo drums, with D-Styles scratching to round it out. And
for once, finally, within that context of free jazz, Awol's
sequenceless steam-of-consciousness makes perfect sense. He blurts
asides and interjections, makes running commentary about the beats,
converses with the vocal samples, playing his mind and voice as
musicians shout chords and notes into the cacophony. These scriptless
moments flow through and between the more premeditated tracks, where
Awol shows his vocal range, singing one moment, whispering in his
thoughtfully raspy tone the next. Yet throughout, the impulsiveness
that seemed out of place on other albums sounds in careful harmony with
the music here, with the most random of lines making sense in the
overall picture. Leave it to Mush to give artists room to explore
uncharted territory in a way that works wonders. Slanguage is a
knockout punch. Kudos. -- Daniel Thomas-Glass, Dusted
When Awol One says "you call her J-Lo, I call her Fur-Pez", in that
I-just-woke-up voice you wonder if he might know something Affleck
doesn't. Over the spirited and distinctively indirect production of
Daddy Kev, Slanguage tick-tocks comfortably like an afternoon spent
with the local jazz enthusiast in his den. You sit and listen to the
creek-like tinkle of the pianos while he pulls record after record
after record from the cabinet just below where he keeps the vermouth.
Awol, the adherent I discuss, mumbles low as pianos carry on and tom
toms flap for your attention from the ice cubes that rattle into his
cocktail glass. A cell-phone rings in meter with flutes and drum
rolls. It's Awol's telephone, but he'll just ignore it, instead telling
you that "every emcee thinks he's the best." Of course "every deejay
thinks he's the best." Of course "every b-boy thinks he's the best."
Then Public Enemy, with lyrics that are gospel, is paraphrased to fit
the times even if you laugh awkwardly with surprise. "I got a letter
from the government the other day, opened and read it, and then I got
anthrax." D-Styles mixed Slanguage on two turntables, both ready for
the annual Beat-to-shit Old Stuff Rummage Sale. Yes, Awol will make you
a tape of the afternoon like a proper host, and yes, "you're gonna find
out it's an audio bible, but, um, it smells like pee." -- Jason
Thornberry, Americore
Mush Records continues its head-scratching trajectory with Slanguage,
a uniquely odd document from LA's hip-hop underground. These dudes --
fixtures on the city's thriving subterranean scene -- must've followed
Spacemen 3's ethos of taking drugs to make music for people to take
drugs to, because Slanguage is a devious derangement of hip-hop's
usual tropes. Awol One's voice is a sandpapery drawl cured by heroic
doses of weed and Doritos. Against the odds, his free-associating and
shaky forays into singing are more endearing than embarrassing. Daddy
Kev crafts hazy, subtly psychedelic tracks that embrace jazz's weirdest
fringes, but for every exhibitionistic Rashied Ali trap-kit blowout, he
includes boom-bapping funk beats. D-Styles (Invisibl Skratch Piklz)
adds otherworldly FX on turntables, extending Slanguage deeper into
druggy bizarreness. Whereas the Native Tongues' clique fashioned jazz
samples to fairly linear ends, Daddy Kev places his avant-jazz and
straight-up hip-hop elements in parallel worlds and somehow makes the
incongruities cohere. "Sometimes fuckin' normalcy gets to ya, ya know?"
AWOL One slurs on "Start Your Road Trip Now" but the records rampant
strangeness renders normalcy a distant possibility. -- Dave Segal, The
Pitch
This ambitious collaboration between two of LA's finest is actually one
long composition. Imposing free jazz aesthetics on hip-hop music -- or
perhaps it's the other way around -- the duo, along with dynamic
turntablist D-Styles, mix feathery drums with stand up bass, meandering
keys and frenetic scratching. It's the perfect musical backdrop for
Awol One's laid back, stream of consciousness musings. Not so clearly
rap or spoken word, Awol's flows are certainly distinctive -- "you call
her J-Lo/I call her Fur-Pez" -- and definitely free-form, very much in
the spirit of this project. -- Martin Woodside, Mean Street
One of loosest hip hop albums that I have ever heard and that is a good
thing. Lots of space and a rather fun flow make this album a treat to
experience. This album is a smorgasbord of sounds and words, all mixed
up into a chaotic yet musical album. For about a third of the album,
Daddy Kev plays live instruments while Awol One rambles on about things
that I don't understand. The rest of the album is comprised of
relatively more traditional song structures, featuring lots of upbeat
melody samples, punchy drums, and end expertly performed turntable
scratches courtesy of D-Styles. Tying it all together is the
infectiously simple and melodic vocal delivery of Awol One. Even though
the guy tends to write cryptic lyrics dealing with ambiguous subjects
such as cutting off one's own tongue, he's managed to amass a pretty
decent following, probably due to his unique and accessible rapping
voice. Even though there are points on Slanguage where the music
gets pretty weird, it remains digestible due to Awol. This is a cool
album -- I recommend it. -- Maui Time Weekly
With Awol One on the mic and Daddy Kev providing the beats, Slanguage
takes you on a trip of exploration through free-jazz and hip-hop. Songs
go in all kinds of directions, sometimes with no direction at all. This
is hip-hop for intelligent people with an interest in the experimental.
-- AL, Impact Press
Some albums are made strictly for your bumpin' enjoyment. This is not
one of those albums. Underground hip-hop heads may remember Awol One
(from the Shapeshifters fame) and Daddy Kev's previous audio journeys,
but nothing could have prepared these heads for the bonding of rap and
free-jazz of Slanguage. Staying true to the free-jazz format, the
album meanders in ambient airspace then coagulates into rock-hard head
bobbing beats. Awol One narrates at points, sings when necessary, then
throws down the best in free association flows. Daddy Kev's beats range
from unright bass and piano samples backed by live drums to distorted
electronic noise. Atop all of this turntablist D-Styles adds the added
elements of live cuts. While this album is highly recommended for those
looking for originality in hip-hop, bubble headed baboons will find
their heads popped by this album's angularity. -- Long Beach Union
Jazz runs amuck on Slanguage, and it's probably the closest fusion of
free improv jazz and hip-hop that's ever been committed to disc. The
lo-fi production skills and Daddy Kev's beats are rock-solid when they
appear, and then somehow the tracks melt down and disappear into one
another. The length of the songs teases the listener, as some of them
are too short and leave room for more idea development, while Awol
One's lyrics/delivery sometimes border on a slurring drunk surrealist
genius thrown into a studio with free improv over the music. This isn't
necessarily a bad thing, but Slanguage is a record that requires
intense concentration and immediate attention in order for everything
to make sense. Not necessarily the kind of thing you would want to
play at a house party, but nothing that should be avoided for home
listening either. -- Rob Theakston, All Music Guide
What happens when an abstract producer and a way-out-there rapper get
together to create hip-hop's answer to free jazz? Well, for one, it's
weird. Very weird. Not weird like Mush's other releases -- way weirder.
Awol One's rambling over this mix of bizarre beats and sounds is not
for everyone -- in fact, most hip-hop fans will find this project
unlistenable. But fans of the Shapeshifter's Awol One will probably
rejoice at the sound of his monotone voice droning on about love, J-Lo,
medication and hip-hop. Awol breaks it down in 'Rules of the Week':
"Monday, I'm a pit bull/ Tuesday, you're animation/ Wednesday, I'm
dedication/ Thursday, you're a poem/ Friday, we're all drunk idiots/
Saturday, it's all just a sequel/ Sunday, everybody's equal." Like free
jazz itself, this album will be detested by most, loved by a few and
never truly understood by anyone. -- DJ Anna, XLR8R
A bold experiment blending hip-hop and free jazz that won't grab
everyone's ear, but is noteworthy for its pure chutzpah. -- Laze, Add
Reviews
Listening to Awol One and Daddy Kev's latest is like happening upon a
pirate radio station operated by a bedridden psychotic. These 22 tracks
are one hell of a murky mess, like a 60-minute alternate take of Miles
Davis' Bitches Brew with your drunk neighbor's commentary. Languid
jazz and fuzzed-funk sounds float in and out and lo and behold...
sometimes a whold song appears. this is hip-hop experimentation for
real, the way it should be. Daddy Kev presents a full plate of
tripped-out, flanged beats and Awol makes perfect sense from time to
time. On "Finger Paint With Bloodlike War Paint" he mixes a Public
Enemy tribute with the 2001 Anthrax mail scare, even getting political:
"Spoon-feed me with neglect/Take the devil out of Washington
re-elect" he mumbles. And on "High School Love Story Drop Out Song" he
shows his life philosophy: "I don't wanna spend too much time trying to
figure out my life with a rhyme." Since when did music have to make
sense to be dope. -- Brian Coleman, URB
Billed as hip-hop's take on free jazz, Slanguage finds Awol One and
Daddy Kev taking a schizophrenic approach to emceeing and Djing,
switching everything up constantly, while creating a continuous mood
that makes the album feel more like one piece of music than a
collection of songs. The mood is low-key: midnight or after. The
atmosphere is that of a place where artists feel solitary and at peace
enough to just get in a zone and create, where they can turn off the
self-critique part of their brains and just let their feelings and
ideas manifest themselves in music. With Slanguage, Awol One and Daddy
Kev are both making an obvious attempt to steer away from the
conventions of their music and just let themselves go. Slanguage was
crafted first by Daddy Kev, who put together about an hour of
all-over-the-map music. Then D-Styles added his scratching skills to
parts of it. And to wrap it all up, Awol One rhymed wherever he wanted
to, in places both logical and unexpected. That approach -- with the
three working separately on the same piece -- differs from free jazz,
which is generally about musicians improvising off of each other at the
same time, yet is quite suited to a hip-hop version of free jazz, as
hip-hop's essence comes from building off the music of others. Daddy
Kev's music is the album's foundation, and its most overtly progressive
element. Well-respected in the underground L.A. hip-hop scene, Daddy
Kev's musical tastes obviously take in much more than straight hip-hop.
The music on Slanguage is constantly jumping genres and entwining
them together. The expansive sounds of '60s and '70s Miles Davis meet
cartoon music, operatic voices, rock guitar solos, '70s funk, and
ghostly noises that would sound more at home on a completely out-there
avant garde experiment. Opening with a drum roll, the album first dives
into big-band music before abruptly stopping and then shifting into a
futuristic version of cocktail-jazz over rough beats. The whole album
shifts around like that. Proper songs melt into spoken interludes and
instrumental segues and back to the extent that it all forms into one
mass. Hooks and choruses show up and then disappear after repeating
only once or twice. Awol One speaks like he's in a daze, breaks into a
spirited rap, and then falls back into talking quietly, and so on.
Slanguage is set up less like an album -- where one song leads to
another -- than a maze or a circle, with styles and moods sometimes
re-emerging and sometimes just disappearing after a brief appearance.
Awol One's rhyming style, when he really gets going, is somehow both
sharp and meandering. He can drop a hard phrase or couplet while
rambling through bizarre stream-of-consciousness passages. And in both
cases he projects the wild imagination of either a five-year-old
dreamer or someone in the middle of an especially rapturous acid trip.
"I can change the time by using my mind," he claims. The deeper he gets
into the bizarre the more his rhymes come across as surrealist poetry
or a sci-fi novel given the cut-up treatment ala Burroughs (lines like
"mechanical angel falling in love with the mirror"). He goes from
expressing love to rapping about bodily functions to rap-singing about
monster movies. Though here and there Awol One shows he can rhyme quick
and tough when he wants (as he's demonstrated on many of his other
recordings), on most of Slanguage he rhymes dreamy and slow, like
he's in a cloud or under a spell. He breaks apart the line between
rapping and talking, the line between song and interlude, as he spends
a lot of time saying near-nonsense in a conversational tone of voice.
Some of those segments are where the album gets challenging in a not-so
exciting way, especially when he's literally coughing over a track or
saying things like "it smells like urine, looks like puke". But in a
way it's all about surprise, and as soon as you think "what the hell is
he talking about?" he switches on you and rips a solid rhyme. At the
start of one track he pulls the trick of acting like he's not going to
rhyme ("I was going to rock on this beat, but...") and then taking
off with one of his more tightly wrapped verses. That trick is the crux
of Slanguage, which is as much about dashing listeners' expectations
as it is about free expression. By throwing so many things in one pot
and constantly shaking it up, Awol One and Daddy Kev manage to always
stay ahead of you as they lead you into fresh territory. -- Dave Heaton,
Pop Matters
You may not get what Awol One is saying the first time around, but
that's what makes him an ill lyricist. To truly grasp everything that's
being said on Slanguage, a Mush Records release, you'll have to pay
attention and hit the rewind button on your discman. After releasing
Propaganda in December with Project Blowed DJ Fat Jack, Awolrus has
teamed up with Daddy Kev again. They previously collaborated for Number 3
On The Phone which proved to be more than DEF and the winning formula is
carried over onto Slanguage. D-Styles scratches throughout
Slanguage which makes it even doper. The album was created in
different parts. First Daddy Kev made the instrumentals, which he used
live percussion for the first time. Then Awol rapped and D-Styles cut
it up. Kev is one of the hottest producers in hip-hop, and it comes
through on the dope feel his instrumentals have. Awol tackles a variety
of topics, such as awkward crushes ("High School Love Story Drop Out")
to wack emcees. "Buyin' Friends on Ebay" is another nice track with a
dope piano beat and jazzy feel by Kev and on-point lyrics by Awol about
friendship. Although Awol One's flow is not for everyone, if you take
the time to listen, you'll realize what's given these Project Blowdians
such a huge underground following. This musical and lyrical trip will
satisfy the hardcore fans, but it may be too much for fans just getting
into Awol and Kev's style. Two good 101-level albums would be Number 3 On
The Phone and Speakerface, where Awolrus teams up with Mike Nardone.
-- Brian Kayser, Hip-Hop Game
A lot of electronic-based musicians and producers make reference to
jazz music and its instrumentation in their sampling and arranging;
mostly from the post-bop and cool eras. For a good chunk of this disc,
Los Angeles hip-hop producer Daddy Kev stretches
the backing tracks to the far reaches in a true free-jazz spirit. Kev
combines soloing drums, upright bass, funky loops, guitar runs and
other ambient sounds with precise turntable manipulation provided by
D-Styles. The unique voice of Awol One plays off of these tracks with
free-association/spoken word riffs that range from humorous to serious
for a new take on beat poetry (no pun intended). Tracks such as "Finger
Paint with Bloodlike War Paint," "Grey Skys in Psycho-Delic RGB" and
"Buyin' Friends on Ebay" kick along to steady rhymes and beats with
quotes from orchestras, saxophone and piano. "Idiot Savant Autistic
Delivery" opens with a spoken-word sample about playing free music that
Awol One throws in his own dialogue to give a sense of conversation.
Steady hi-hat lays down a groove for Fender Rhodes and bass to convey
an all too brief 70s soundtrack for a cop show chase sequence that is
scratched with vocal samples. As jazz and rap are said to be closely
related, it was just a matter of time before free jazz and fusion made
their way into the hybrid of hip hop so prominently. -- Gord Fynes,
Brainwashed Brain
During one of my more pretentious moments (and they are many), I once
compared the current state of hip-hop with post-WWII jazz: when the big
band furor was way too popular and formulaic for many of jazz's more
talented musicians and they'd reacted with the more challenging be-bop.
Today, with hippop being depressingly predictable, there are many
underground/neo-soul hip-hoppers who are trying to reinvigorate the
form: today's equivalent to the be-boppers. But, for the folks at Mush,
it seems that they have cheated and have skipped bop and hard bop and
have gone straight to free jazz. From Count Basie to Ornette Coleman.
With artists like Busdriver and Radioinactive, Reaching Quiet and now
Awol One and Daddy Kev, this Dirty Loop subsidiary is really putting in
serious effort to expand the boundaries of hip-hop. And, just like their
free-jazz progenitors, you definitely have to be in the right frame of
mind for Slanguage and a lot of other Mush releases. Awol and Daddy
Kev refuse to let you sit back and head nod, and you definitely can't
cruise down the street and let the Bose vibrate. This is intellectuals'
hip-hop with a sly sense of humor (so much so, it's sometimes hard to
figure out if these fellas take themselves seriously). Yes, you have
elements of boomin' bass throughout, but you'll struggle your way
through a lot of other stuff to get to it. For those resistant to
change or fans of bubble-gum gangsta (c)rap and pseudo-Southern bounce,
Slanguage is definitely not for you, and I highly discourage you from
throwing this on at a party; unless it's time for folks to go. However,
those who enjoy adventure, who love having their horizons expanded
(without the ear-splitting screeches of Albert Ayler), I highly
recommend these two. It's not quite Derrida, but it is incredibly
challenging stuff that is definitely worth the endeavor. -- Ink 19
Remember that kid in high school that got invited to some parties and
was spurned from others? Yeah, you know, that guy who was kind of
likeable, but he just wouldn't stop talking. The things he would have
to say would sound completely random and self-conscious all the time?
Yeah, that guy. The thing about him that made it annoying was that
underneath all the seemingly arbitrary speech, he actually made a lot
of sense. Despite his cryptic and uncomfortable truth telling, he always
had girls with secret crushes on him, because his irritating mannerisms
always had a facade of humor. I wonder what that guy is doing now?
Well, Awol One is one of those guys and his medium before Slanguage
was hip-hop. The Los Angeles native's fiercely independent undertakings
include last year's appetizer-sized Propaganda, where he teamed up
with fellow Massmen member Fat Jack, and 2000's brilliant
collaboration with Daddy Kev, Souldoubt. Slowly but surely he has
been going down the path of delightful esotericism that his fellow
Massman, Busdriver, has. Slanguage is the current culmination of that
journey. The album itself is an odyssey into the subconscious of both
Awol and Daddy Kev. What comes out is a hip-hop approximation of free
jazz that creates a relatively unique landscape, even for the world of
avant garde hip-hop. The anchor of all the madness is producer Daddy Kev
who throws in the kitchen sink to erect a proper background for Awol's
off-the-cuff ruminations. In the first half of the record, Awol makes
it clear: "It's not for everybody." Daddy Kev pulls out all the stops
on this record. His instrumentals were created first, and they sound
like odd nosdam collages with a much longer attention span and a lot
more jazz and classical music juxtapositions. The tracks sans vocals
would make a supremely interesting instrumental collage on their own.
The freeness of associations is staggering, with drummed hip-hop beats
phasing in and out of the mix, going from a mix of orchestral sampling
to congas, jazz snaps and back again. Added to the glorious insanity is
the "free" scratching of D-Styles, who uses a plethora of sources from
which to scratch, most notably opera vocals. Over the pleasurable
clamor comes "that guy" Awol One. Convinced that this is a job he was
made for, Awol spits out stream-of-consciousness hip-hop poetry and
random thoughts. He feels at home enough in this relatively unexplored
landscape to declare: "this is your audio bible." Throughout, Awol
raps, speaks, and sings assertively and calmly while interacting
playfully with Kev's joyfully jagged scenery. He talks and agrees with
spoken samples and gives running commentary on Kev's work. One
particularly loopy classical sample prompted Awol to note that it
sounded like cartoon characters "beating the shit out of each other."
Other times he slips easily into Psychedelic brain-disconnect poetry,
tackling curses ("You play the music, I'll lay the curse") and black
magic with the flair of an old guy on a street corner. Mostly, Awol
just speaks and sings about what's on his mind at the time... monster
movies, television, hip-hop ("Of course every emcee thinks he's the
best, of course every B-boy thinks he's the best!"), high school love,
god... you name it. Obviously, there will be a large number of purists
on all sides that will hate this record. hip-hoppers will find it too
abstract, and free jazzers will resent the sampling and Awol's
tongue-in-cheek ruminations. Is it sad that it makes me so happy to
know a record will piss people off? -- Joel Andrew Tyson, Winter
Mittens
Like an avalanche of twisted beats and rhymes Slanguage manages to
take you onto a wayward journey of elaborate hip-hop and free jazz. Awol
One's cadence paints a picture of total irony as topics sway from the
monotony of current hip-hop, television, and friendship. Daddy Kev's
production is high off of a jazz blunted hip-hop trip backdrop, as his
display of beat bravado has no room for containment. It's a collection
of tracks that sway form somber to slumber. I mean hey I'm open for
exploratory hip-hop and the likes, but it's gotten to the point where
you ask yourself, "Is this really hip-hop?" What are the true
ingredients of hip-hop nowadays? Awol One and Daddy Kev challenge the
question on this 22-track, 50 minute album. Chock full of slang
language that rivals the hip-hop norm, Slanguage puts avant-garde on its
ass. -- Ghetto Blaster
It's almost become a curse to be original these days. Most musicians
seem to get by and achieve coveted artist status by dropping slick,
overproduced repetitive beats and formulaic lyrics, marketing their
look and style instead of sheer talent and content. Where is the beauty
in that? Am I being too naïve? Much of today's pop music, in order to
receive mass approval (read: money) ends up too shiny and/or
sanitized. Although it might sound dangerous, it is hardly ever
on-the-edge. I am aware that this is an age-old lament of critics and
music lovers everywhere, and one that will be around forever. But it's
still worth addressing. Hey, I like 50 Cent for all he's worth. But can
you believe the props he got at the Tribeca Film Festival's closing
concert? It was less about him becoming a musical force than it was
about being a blurb, a commodity, a social commentary. Where's the
emotion in that? Original music should make you feel uncomfortable. Or
overcome you with an awesome feeling that can hardly be described. It's
a resounding "yes". A fist in the air or the uncontrollable
head-bobbing motion. It converts you into a preacher: "Hey everybody,
you just gotta hear this." Slanguage might not be for everyone, but
it sure is original. Combining free music stylings (not in the strict
sense but in a collage / cut-and-paste style) with traditional hip-hop
sensibilities (heavy on the commentary tip), it delivers the rantings
and stories of a laidback experimental duo. Daddy Kev and Awol One
sound like they just got up, took a few huge bong hits and hit the
record button. 'Finger Paint With Bloodlike War Paint' is a crazy
juxtaposition of an old-school style beat and rhyme with a grand
orchestral backing track. The two aren't even in sync melodically. It's
almost as if the cut was done accidentally. Nevertheless, dramatic
tension is evident all over the track, making it clear that, planned or
not, some crazy shit had to have gone down for this track to be
completed. 'Grey Skies In Psycho-Delic RGB' is almost painful to listen
to. But it was probably meant to be that way. While the beat comes on
strong, Awol One menaces the listener with his shaky rhymes and leads
up to a spoken word call and response, defining the beauty of free
music, he says, "I just let the music take me where the music takes
me... the only thing about free music is that you have a greater
success of not succeeding because it is free. It is unstructured. But
the fun is when you get the good moments." That said, this album is not
for the un-adverturous. Awol One's sleepy, don't-give-a-fuck vocals may
turn off those accustomed to an assertive voice. But if you listen
enough, you'll find that he's got something you can relate to. -- Enzo
Lim, Repellent