CURREN$Y

This one should be interesting. Rarely do i choose to write about any emcee before I've actually shoved his tape in the deck. It's an even rarer occurrence for me to do so without hearing any previous work be it even a snippet. I've become excited to the point of picking up a pen in the middle of the night and writing my opinion on debuts such as Fashawn's 'Boy Meets World,' but that was a always a spur of the moment, 'Damn this kids good!' type thing.

No, the reasoning for this latest post is quite simply the hype. Yes Flav told us not to believe in any such business, but Hip Hop heads across the globe have been banging on about this kid for a while. I've been aware of the hype over this guy on the blogosphere for a long time now but always seemed to avoid videos and links much the same as i am currently do with Theophilus London (he's frickin everywhere!). Underground heads have a rep for amping new comers that don't deserve the attention. Yet for any of you who know of a hardcore head or are one yourselves, you'll also know that we are notoriously hard headed. We're a close-knit community and we like it that way. We stick to our tried and trusted artists and only allow others in, upon the recommendation of tried and trusted friends, or through that odd night in the month when you scoure the net in search of an obscure dope emcee.(Don't you just hate it when that friend that always thinks he has your style of music taste down, attempts to recommend wack ass songs to you!? Overloading your inbox or 'wall' with links.) So yes, only with a recommendation from someone that keeps as high a standard as I, when it comes to this Hip Hop ish, did i sit up and pay attention. His exact words were 'Are you serious?..Everything this kids touches is dope!' And from a Hip Hop nerd who views Illmatic on par with words from God himself....that's about as good a 'put on' you're gonna get.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before but yes, I am an avid Nas and 90's Hip Hop fan. I made some mistakes in the past of limiting myself to only that east coat hardcore,dry style of rap. I no longer expect every emcee to sound like Nas, Az, Mobb Deep and the likes. However i do expect a similar level of skill, wittiness, depth and substance. I loved 90's beats, soul samples were my jam, were THEE jam! But I've realised times are changing, getting creative with it can be a great thing, yet i still believe heading too far in the other direction is what led to auto-tune and the electro/techno type production we are seeing all over the gaff today. Don't even get me started on certain Kanye and Usher (recent) songs. I think I'll always have love for emcees that spit as if telling it from their project window. I can handle gangster rap, i can stand braggado in songs (also known as, the ability to listen to any given Jay-Z album) and i can just about take the odd obnoxious statement here and there. But what i dam near can't stand is an emcee who acts too involved. It's a well known fact that real gansgters/hustlers don't rap. They don't have the time to. Yes some insiders knowledge and perspective is good (see the Clipse,) though, you spending the best part of a 4 minute song trying to convince me you're the undiscovered Pablo Esobar just aint gon cut it. No, me, I much prefer the intellectual approach of depicting the sociological, economic and street politics that take place in the area at hand. Taking it back to Illmatic, Nas does this with such ease. Almost without meaning to he makes social statements in quick snap phrases or with few words such as 'black rats trapped,' this short but elegant metaphor perfectly depicts the predicament of the African American population residing in Queensbridge and greater America.

Moving hastily on before i go off like Charles Dickens on a tangent. I could give you a nice little piece of background information on our man in question here, but as i said above, i no nothing, so lets get on. The first track hit me with a little surprise. The heavily synthesized sounds, baseline and strings gave the essence of a comeback track, an intro to a comeback 'fuck the world' type album. Curren$y enters the track with an abstract approach similar to that of Mos Def, listing words and thoughts sporadically. The track eventually gains more direction and if this was a sign of things to come, it was definitely a good one.
Listening to this album for roughly the 3rd time, as i type i am again pleasantly surprised, this time at the sugary smooth vibe to Curren$y. He manages to encapsulate that west coast flow whilst remaining true to his section (ok so i know a little, he's from the south!)
'Chilled Coughee' and the recruiting of Devin the Dude only serves to add to the smoothness and laid back feel to the album thus far. As well as being good background music Curren$y proves that he can capture our attention with good humour and funky beats that would feel at home on any Outkast lp.

This kid can seriously mix things up. We've all had our fair share of shots at the South somewhat unfairly in most cases. But what is totally undeniable (i just won't stand for anyone who thinks otherwise,) is the knack our peoples down there have of producing some of the hottest, catchiest beats ever to bless the pinewood of my speakers and the fibre in those ridiculously over-priced headphones we all seem to wanna rock. Growing up in E11 to E5 LON (that's basically East London for those that aint hip to it,) steel pans have been an ever present sound. Notting Hill carnival and the abundance of Caribbean peoples in Hackney and Brixton made these instruments literally impossible to miss. My own sister can even bang on them there pans pretty good. Therefore when a beat like the one on 'Audio Dope II' drops, I can't help but bang my head in appreciation for the producers effort. The perfect soundtrack to some sort of Caribbean street scene, one word, Gully. So gully he even takes a shot at one of the greats since he's 'Came a long way but i don't got time to be, sittin' at the dock of the bay'...dope. I was kidding with the 'shot' thing though. Peep the shout out to Hines Gregory also.






'Audio Dope II' -


The track 'Seat ft Snoop Dogg' does bring light to a weakness evident in a few other tracks. That being that Curren$y's flow is lacking on occasion, i know the track is fairly laid back and slow yet a better emcee may take that chance to produce something much smoother and poetic. A broken up flow can be a technique, well if it is, it's not one i like all too much. The rhythm of songs should not be sacrificed unless for the most exceptional of all lyrics. After all, this is music and we are talking songs.

However lyrics are what we are blessed with on the track named 'Breakfast featuring Mossy Mos's vocals and production (not even worth a 'feat.' really.) I don't like to give away too much on lyrics. There's no point in me breaking them down when an album has just been released. That's for you to do and for us to discuss later. I think we all agree things are more satisfying when achieved through our own minds. I'll come back to this one with a breakdown and points to raise. However it is this track that seems to be catching most attention in Hip Hop circles and forums across the web. What we have here are some beautiful horns, laced over an exquisite flow that not only enlightens us on Curren$y's views towards certain aspects of the industry but provides some witty lines in the manner of good 'ole braggado rap.

As i mentioned previously this album does well as background music though i can't see it getting massive amounts of replay from yours truly. A consistent laid back vibe is continued throughout the album with 'Skybourne' and 'Hangover' however one wouldn't be to wrong to state tracks like these are the 'fillers' that every album seems to be packing nowadays. Also instantly noticeable is the featuring artists on 8 of 13 tracks. Being very much a fan of artists performing solo the majority of their album, after all it is their album, it's hard to approve of this. I hate to stan on Nas even more but to me, he did it perfectly with Illmatic. If you have to have a featuring artist make sure he/she is something spectacular. Bring something new to the table. Too many today, feature artists in order to promote their album. Notice how everyone wants to be on a track with Drake at the moment? Is that because Drake has an astounding voice and lyrics Rakim himself couldn't write? I highly, yes highly, doubt it. Don't allow me to portray Nas as some Godsend though, he's done it too on later albums (Wayne stepped it up on Distant Relative though!) That being said, the featuring artists don't overshadow Curren$y in anyway. Nor do they change the atmosphere and vibe of an album that isn't theirs to do so.
I would have been pleased to see only the two artists featuring in the last song. Jay Elec just reminded me of why i have become the biggest advocator of his music this side of the pond. That being his flow is just too ridiculous. I can't get enough of it, and you know when it's about to go off too! He has this way of of carrying sentences further than they're supposed to go if you catch my drift. The proper literary technique for those that care is 'enjabment' (said with a french accent, en-JARRB-ment). The bar is coming to an end, his breath is too, yet he manages to ride it over to the next bar with a smoothness of gab that can only come when short of breath. Words just roll of this guys tongue, and we aren't even getting started on his disgustingly ill lyics, neither are we going to.

This is a ill effort from $y (we're calling him that from now on to give my fingers a rest). The only thing that concerns me is; as ever has been the case in Hip Hop, a first album is more often than not an emcees greatest attempt. It's when he's at his rawest and most passionate. Fresh ideas are flowing and he brings something new to the game. Therefore with this album falling on the 3.5 to 4 mic scale of things in my eyes, are we likely to witness $y improve in albums to come? I sure hope so. Lesser rappers have proved it possible, so let's just kick back and enjoy this joint in anticipation for what $y produces in the future.

Did i mention his obsession with weed?
Or the overly nang (gotta bust the London words from time to time) album artwork by David Barnett that i have just witnessed in the booklet? Go cop.