::::::::::ALBUM REVIEW:::::::::::
As I sat down at BUMP Records with Do D.A.T. to discuss his debut LP, OAKLAND IN BLUE, I felt extremely nervous. Not only is DAT like family to me, he is also someone that I have looked up to musically for YEARS. So I tried to take a Socratic stance, and just ask some leading questions. "What do you think of Oakland in Blue, DAT?" I tried. NO WAY I was getting off that easily. DAT replied with, "More importantly, what do you think? I could tell you weren't pleased with something on the phone..." Indeed. When hearing the concept for Oakland In Blue, all Duke Ellington samples fused with hip hop drums, I was soooo excited. I thought, "This is a creative concept that will make hip hop super musical again." To me... the concept and goal of the album was only partially accomplished. While DAT's lyricism and linguistic potentcy never falters on the album, the production and singing vocals often do. Don't get me wrong. This album has a lot of gems on it, but as someone who attends a lot of Do DAT's live performances, I found myself disappointed by how some songs translated onto wax. Let's get into it. And before you all start to hate me for my candor, DAT has given me his blessing to HONESTLY review this project from my perspective.
"Dat Dat Dat" produced by 1OAK is a stellar track, and a fantastic way to begin the album. 1OAK, of bay area group Honor Roll, samples his own fantastic singing voice, singing the artist's moniker in a smooth repetition that gets you ready for a jazzy, bouncy ride. Although, this song comes off more as swing than jazz, you definitely feel the flow. "Bourbon St." featuring Mic-G is where you begin to feel the jazz element a bit more. Although this track can feel a little retro for the hip hop enthusiasts born post '89, I enjoyed the energy and the production on this song and felt that Mic-G brought a complimentary energy to the track. I also enjoyed the vocals by Isis Genisis because they blended with the beat perfectly and were in no way intrusive to the rest of the song. "Rollas" featuring Sand'Man and Zumbi of Zion-I is a straight-forward lament about how one could feel towards law enforcement. This track read more as a Sand'Man song than a Do DAT song. It felt as if Sand'Man would have been more likely to choose the beat, and he seemed more comfortable on the track than DAT. I loved this song, though. Next... we run into my first frown on the track listing. "Nickel Dime" produced by Abstrakt Sounds, is to me, the major blemish on the epidermis of OIB. With horrible usage of the bpm (beats per minute) chosen, a sketchy sample chop, and amateur drums, it is the production that brings down this track. So fervently did I dislike this beat, that it distracted me from listening to the song. Geesh. Moving on... A GEM! is next up on the album. Produced by I.D. of rap group Bracy & I.D., "Color Scheme" is THE epitome of a jazz/hiphop fusion. The production on this song will make you cry. DAT rises to the occasion, rapping about Oakland with prose that would put the most epic slam poet to shame. I fell in love with this track, and had to play it three times over before I could move on.
I wanted the next track to be my favorite song on the album. I'd seen it live a million times, and was JUICED! to the maximum to hear how it would sound on the album. "Right Now" featuring Isis Genisis is produced in superb fashion by Mr. Know-It-All of bay area rap group League 510. The concept of this song is amazing to me. The perfect feel-good song, DAT spits "Said I never felt alive like I feel right now/though I'm just getting by with a little right now/Said I never felt alive like I feel right now/No, I never felt alive..." I take issue with this song when the singing vocals come in. They feel turned waaaay up, and the harmonies are almost scary. The arrangement of the harmonies give off a melancholy mood, where the song is one of resilience, even victory. Sigh... "Pastimes" featuring Isis Genisis (again) kept me in a melancholy space. We love Isis. We think she's great, and understand that she and Do DAT are best friends, ride-or-die, patnas for life, etc etc. However, 8 tracks into Oakland In Blue, she is the sole vocalist heard on the album three times over (twice back to back)??? I found myself wishing that "Pastimes" didn't sound so derived from a past time, or even just that another vocalist would show up on the album at this point. (Siaira Shawn came to mind as a better fit for this song) "Poetry Nook" is too hilarious a skit for me to overlook... Rob Collins is HILARIOUS as the host of what may SEEM like a joke poetry show... but for all of you poets out there, this skit will resonate with you. "Cosmopolitan Kool" and "The Bridge" featuring Melina Jones were both produced by Will Bracy, but neither truly showcase this young gentleman's production ability to the fullest. To me, "The Bridge" was a smart single. A track about bridging Oakland (Do DAT's native land) and San Francisco (the city which spawned Melina Jones), I felt that it went further in the albums attempt to also fuse two genres (hip hop and jazz) and two generations (retro and modern hip hop artists and fans). I will once more HAVE to take issue with the singing. While Melina is a fierce lyricist, her vocals were only... acceptable. The track could have leveled up had there been a stronger vocalist on the song.
"Brothas Keeper" featuring Iamani Iameni (also produced by Iamani) was a track that grew on me over time. A song that pays homage to brotherly love, I just wish the drums would have hit a little harder. I didn't dig the kick, and wish the snare would've been maybe mixed with a clap. I love the fact that DAT was secure in his manhood enough to make a song this vulnerable. I also love love LOVE the hook! "The Hop" featuring Krystle Azul is the song that exhibits most prevalently where this project was attempting to go, but where it's execution just did not pan out. The cadence DAT chose was a risk that did not work for me in conjunction with the beat, and again (it's gonna feel like I'm beating a dead horse) the VOCALS were... not indicative of the BEAST that Krystle Azul is. She's one of the most talented singers in the bay area, but unfortunately on this song the harmonies and arrangement were not well thought out. I personally felt that this track didn't even need singing on it, but since that was the decision made, the harmony definitely could have been left out. Ironically, it is the bonus track "Air 'Em Out" (also produced by Will Bracy) that displays and executes the concept of the album the best. In this track, DAT goes in on the flow, and the production is also ridiculously wonderful and fitting. This song is the direction which I wish the entire project had gone. Overall, if I had to grade Oakland in Blue, I'd give it a B-/C+ for execution, A for concept. If you're aware of DAT's EP, The Skinny, then Oakland In Blue can almost come off as a sophomore jinxed project, where while there are high points, it just doesn't fully congeal conceptually or production-wise. I gained understanding of the inconsistency in the album from my conversation with DAT. He was and is an emcee with many moods, inner contradictions, constantly evolving musically and otherwise. So, ultimately, at the end of the day, he's only human. Flaws and all, Oakland In Blue is a testament to that never-ending struggle to bridge artistic endeavors and mass appeal. So to my big brother, continue to strive and, "Do DAT, Do DAT, Do Do DAT DAT DAT..."
0 comments:
Post a Comment