Evan Barlow – Trials To Triumph (Datpiff)
Everyone has a story, but not everyone has the courage to tell you theirs. Trials To Triumph, Evan Barlow’s first release, is up front about his personal truth from the get go, and through its 17 tracks is a testament to how far one can come.
Evan Barlow – Trials To Triumph (Datpiff)
Everyone has a story, but not everyone has the courage to tell you theirs. Trials To Triumph, Evan Barlow’s first release, is up front about his personal truth from the get go, and through its 17 tracks is a testament to how far one can come. On the intro track “Ride,” produced by Andrew Hypes, he spits at the speed of a tongue twister: “Gotta be different or its gon’ flop/ I guess my story helps a lot/ this junky came from the bottom to the top/ from a needle in the vein/ to a range with a drop.” That’s right, he’s a double time MC. Not quite Twista or MGK, I’d say more about at the pace of Yelawolf, and throughout the project he fluctuates his pace well with a strong delivery that shows you how much he has practiced working on his flow. That being said, this project is more of a compilation, which means you get songs that more or less made to stand on their own, such as “Bounce,” verses over industry beats, and a few on which he is actually himself the feature. That’s not to say that he doesn’t deliver throughout a solid effort and representation of what he is capable of. The project’s highlights, “Ali,” produced by Andrew Hypes, and especially the last track “Real” (producer not listed) really hint at what an actual project from Evan could and should sound like. “Ali” is all about flow–it’s the Trial–whereas “Real” is all about content, about the transition he has made in life: the Triumph. There’s a lot to like on this project, especially if you’re into fast-paced lyricism. I must say, being that I once lost a friend to a drug overdose who was all about hip hop and wanted to be a MC, listening to this made me think of him and how hard that was, and it made me proud to have faced my own Trials and Triumphs. Keep working, Evan, and stay sober.
James Dangle – Read A Book (Bandcamp)
What is a hip hop album? What is a verse? Is it poetry? Is it not? As I listened to JPS-turned-“Rogue Squadron” vet James Dangle’s project, I couldn’t help but ask myself these questions. The first two tracks, “Surface of the Pool” and “That Space Shit” featuring BCMusic1st, both tread that thin line of spoken word/hip hop. A line which is crossed into the hip hop zone once you get to track 3, “Flying Pete Rock,” followed by “They Say” (Produced by Ant The Symbol). Then there’s the classic Black Dynamite skit, followed by “It’s A Plot” (also produced by Ant The Symbol), which falls back into that spoken word thing and at a slow 4:30 is a long ride. Fortunately, that ride stops at what is the strongest record on this whole release: “Warfare” (Produced by Stryf Sonic), featuring The Paper Lady and Drano. Paper Lady, who we rarely get to hear on any record, kills this one; do not miss it. What’s left after the stunning social commentary that is “Warfare” is “Hmmmm,” a skit and bonus record, which requires you to commit to about a minute of silence and some shout-outs to get to, followed by two more bonus tracks “Love” and “One to Rule”, which are both produced by Ohbliv of Yellow Gold fame. I don’t know why he put “Hmmmm” before the rest of the tracks, which in my opinion should have been on there earlier, but they are both worth a listen. What is clear on every verse he provides is that Dangle has read plenty of books, and if anything he wants you to use your mind. It can get complicated here, i.e. “When fish are under the sea/ we just digress, fall to structure/ never progress/ beg for change/ to call the different strange/ when its ancientness remains in pyramids in Memphis.” As my brother would say: “Word.” Oh, and props to Dangle for the great selfie in the album art, which took up my entire screen every time my DVD player encountered it–too funny!
