El Chapo – Chapo Tape (Soundcloud/)
Yaper strikes again. What is this, my third, fourth Yaper-view? Well, just when you think you’ve figured these guys out, they go another direction. Hey, I like it when you keep me guessing.
El Chapo – Chapo Tape (Soundcloud/)
Yaper strikes again. What is this, my third, fourth Yaper-view? Well, just when you think you’ve figured these guys out, they go another direction. Hey, I like it when you keep me guessing. Sure you’ll find the usual Yaper-istics here: old Three-6 screw-sounding beats, slowed up voices, talk about smoke, bitches, unpredictable track lengths… but it’s interesting when you know someone lives in the same city as you and sounds like they’re on another planet. So where does this fall on the Yaper-scale? I’d say right below Owner’s Manual… Lucky is still the finest Yaper-work to come from the Yaper Gang.
While there was a bit more regular reality in here (maybe that’s because this project stars El Chapo–or as we Gucci Mane fans call him “the other El Chapo”) it still doesn’t make much sense to me. I feel like I missed something, like these Yaper guys were there but we were all absent for it. Like when you haven’t watched Walking Dead for thre weeks and someone has lost a limb; everyone is all thankful and you’re like, “When did that happen? He lost a leg! How is this a good thing?” I’m sure in reading this, Dear Reader, you may say, “Well tell us more about the project. Some of the intricacies of its sound… blah blah.” Look man: Yaper is as Yaper does. That’s all I know. That’s all THEY know. And if you’re that curious, click the link and find out for yourself. NO RAGRETS.
Sonny Gabriel & Scott Free (aka No Hokum) – Notes From Underground (Bandcamp)
I’m not gonna lie–after the eerie intro, when track 2, “You Wish,” came on, it took everything in me not to skip it. Luckily, you can. I don’t know why the song is even on there. It’s a bunch of money talk, etc. The hook is “check my chick (you wish) check my whip (you wish)….” you get the point. Same ol’ boring shit we hear every day. Sorry guys, I pull no punches. This one should have been called “Imagination,” not the intro. Anyway, what follows afterwards is a lot better.
“What’s It About” is a record that is totally opposite, despite the hook still containing “money, cars, and wealth.” I felt like a lot more went into this record. It should have been #2. As this project progresses, it’s like going down a staircase of early 2000s rap–half horrorcore at times, borderline West Coast. It reminds me of Andre Nickatina… a lot. The production, similar for the most part throughout the project because it seems they used the same drum kit for every beat, is enhanced by the different takes on the subject matter for each track. The thing that I didn’t like about this overall, though: it really sounds like the MC here, Sonny Gabriel, is trying. Like really hard. He wants you to enter this world he is creating. He wants you to believe it. And by the time I finally was like, “OK, I can accept this,” I was on the last record “Schitzo.” It’s the best example of the concept that is this project, done right.
Now, I bet you’re thinking, “Damn, Black is saying this shit is wack… he’s shittin’ all over these guys.” Nah. I’m just being honest–they made it, I listened, this is how I felt. It’s not that it seems like anyone cut any corners when making this; it just seems like… well, it is what it is. Like when you go to Chipotle for the first time after eating nothing but Taco Bell. I don’t really eat much Chipotle these days, but this is definitely Taco Bell. That being said though, I don’t think these guys have been to Chipotle yet. And hey, I lived off Taco Bell for a VERY long time. And even though I don’t anymore, last I checked they’re still open for business.
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Known as the hardest-working man in RVA hip hop, Black Liquid hosts two local radio shows–Thursday nights 11pm-1am on WDCE 90.1 FM, and Saturday nights (aka Sunday mornings) 1am-3am on WRIR 97.3 FM–organizes the bi-monthly Face Melt Fridays at Strange Matter, and teaches creative writing to 7th and 8th graders at Sabot at Stony Point School. He’s also a prolific emcee, having released nearly two dozen mixtapes either as a solo artist or with his compatriots in The New Juice Crew over the past several years. Download his new album, Title, as well as his considerable back catalog, at NoiseTrade.
