The Agony - Discourse demo album was recorded at Boomin Studios in Flint, Michigan and was engineered Ahmad Weston in 1995 which was when recording took place. Production was also done by him. The demo had a more hip hop influenced sound than any of the albums in Flint at that time. The genres and sounds of hip hop, jazz, and electronic all meet each other on this album.
Ahmad Weston was the producer, composer, and main artist behind the Agony album. He was the backbone and brains behind everything in the group. Ahmad Weston was an engineer for Boomin Records at that time. He also engineered at Boomin Records for many years.
Agony’s album was a demo issued on cassette. This demo cassette was pressed up in limited quantities. Possibly less 300 copies of this demo cassette were ever pressed. Today the Agony - Discourse demo cassette is regarded as one of a kind treasure. This album is of those Boomin Records mystery tapes in a cluster of several albums that were recorded at Boomin Records from 1991 to 2005.
Side A is labeled as Dramacide and Side B is labeled as Traumacide.
The song Voodoo is about voodoo magic. You can feel a vibe of uncertainty and tensity as you listen to the song. The beats Ahmad used on this song are thick and so is the bass.
Voodoo opens up with a calm opening on a dark night. Crickets can be heard chirping in the background. A kick drum is used throughout the song. There is a numbing blaze. Agony creeps in through the air. Something eradicates the body and then play up on the fears. Agony has that voodoo. The song makes references to voodoo magic.
All I Seen uses thick beats and low bass over a hodgepodge of samples. The beats used are snares, toms, and kicks. Female vocals sampled from a classical music composition are used on this song. The words from the classical music composition say, “All I see are my shadows” . The classical music composition is layered over an organ you would hear playing in an old horror film.
There are 2 downsides. One downside is the instrumentation and vocals are not equally balanced on a 50/50 level. The instrumentation overlaps the vocals making listening to the vocals very difficult. The other downside is not being able to hear the vocals.
Agony takes us into his mind. Things he shares are not wholesome or pretty. He discusses how generations and nations breed terrorists. Terrorists are bred off of hate and fear. Not to mention corruption. Agony wants to get up and fight the feelings he has been facing. It’s hard to be alive. The struggle continues.
The lyrics “It’s hard to be alive/The struggle continues” make frame of reference to how living every day is a struggle. Daily living is a struggle. The lyrics “Earthbound/we are walking dead” represents the insanity we face on Earth.
Agony shows us he is aware of the violence. These lyrics are an example “Yesterday we played in the rain/Todays streets lay with blood stains” These lyrics exemplify a violent chaotic world.
Da Crib uses a jazz hop oriented sound where jazz meets hip hop. Freeform jazz also meets upbeat jazz with a touch of funk. The grand piano gives that away. Ahmad uses distorted bitcrushed synths and keys on this song. Agony uses a fast paced style of rapping on this song.
Da Crib is a song about how Agony attempts to persuade a fine female to come over to his crib. He wanted her over at his house right now. They have plans to do some shit.
BJ is not paying for anything that’s going to leave a rash. He uses petroleum on the end of rubber condom for sexual intercourse. In 9 months he could say the child is not his. Fucking bitches twice was sure damn nice. They had to pay the price the same week.
Panthers is a song dedicated to the Black Panthers. Agony takes a pro-black stance in this song. This hip hop song uses a hodgepodge of samples. Lady Lo raps here too.
Agony had to learn a hard lesson on Panthers. Catching drama keeps him stressing. Days are getting longer. He doesn’t know how to adhere to all of this drama. Winter is almost through and he is getting evicted from the crib. His baby mama is pressing charges against him. So it’s time for him to lay down a track at Boomin Studios. He plays his song over again. Agony believes his life goes faster when he’s loyal to the game.
Agony tells black people to raise their fists up. He says, “We can take this nation if we get pissed enough.” Until black people fight the war for justice, they will never see peace.
Lady Lo raps after Agony. Her verses came hard in the paint. She wants to get high of that endo (marijuana) and black power. She is high as hell and ain’t gonna give it up. Lady Lo shows much love and appreciation to the Black Panthers. Gangstas and thugs have her back.
Freaky Demo is an East Coast rap styled hip hop song with a touch of jazz hop. Notice the boom bap beats and medium bass. The beats give away an East Coast rap vibe. Hip hop meets jazz on Freaky Demo. Lady Lo and Stamina rap here too. Freaky Demo is a posse cut.
The group Agony seeks to break out people with their complex features in the style of rhythm and poetry which is rap. Stamina is doing damage worldwide with his East Coast style of raps. Just like that. Take flight as he is in command. He is bringing death and destruction to your label and production team. Stamina needs to supersede over all MC’s. Stamina sounds very much similar to Big G of MOSS when he raps. He raps 2 verses on Freaky Demo.
Agony gets some stress off his chest in the form of rapping on Amerika. The song uses medium bass over soft processed beats.
Agony has some stress to kill. He shares his true genuine feelings. He’s keeping it real. Distance is getting the best of him. He claims the government hates people and separates them. Sadly this fact is true. It’s really a separate but equal type of deal. It’s evil what the government does.
All I Seen (Straight Soul Mix) uses a different sound than the original. This version of the song uses a much darker sound. Some of the lyrics are retained from the original version. This version uses an angelic chorus which sining in harmony in the background throughout this song.
Agony uses a robotic voice to discuss the evil and wickedness in this world. Sometimes he just can’t take it. What can a person do? Sometimes it’s based on where a person lives. It’s hard for a young black male to live in this world. He tries to keep his soldiers strong and army tight.
You know the old saying, “Everybody knows why the dove cries.” Agony tries to get ahead in life by increasing his knowledge through education.
The lyrics “It’s hard to be alive/The struggle continues” make frame of reference to how living every day is a struggle. Daily living is a struggle. The lyrics “Earthbound/we are walking dead” represents the insanity we face on Earth.
Agony shows us he is aware of violence. These lyrics are an example “Yesterday we played in the rain/Todays streets lay with blood stains” These lyrics exemplify a violent chaotic world.
Hypocritic is song where the group Agony calls out hypocrites. On this song is where Agony switches their style of rapping. They rap in the form of fast paced style of Memphis rap. Coincidentally this song has that eerie vibe you hear in Memphis rap. Synths Ahmad used on this song give away an eerie unsettling vibe.
I rate this album 4/5****!
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