Lil Sin - Fallen Star album review
Fallen Star is a very personal heartfelt album which revolves around the life experiences of Lil Sin and his inner emotions. World music meets rap music on this Lil Sin album. The album was released on his SoufField label in 2014. Only 1,000 copies of Lil Sin - Fallen Star were pressed on CD and sold by hand to hand sales in San Antonio and Austin. On this album Lil Sin goes by the name Ronnie Warner.
On the song Fallen Star, Lil Sin is a figurative representation of a falling star in the sky. He is the falling star many people wish upon a make their dreams come true. He explains why he left the music business and chose not to be famous. The song represents the realistic side of Lil Sin with logic and reality.
A single acoustic guitar is playing in the background during nighttime in the song Fallen Star. The mood is fairly subtle as it gravitates towards a slow tempo pace. Notice the crickets in the background anyone? A.Wash produced Fallen Star.
Many people want to be here not knowing the consequences of being a star. The fame and glory is not all what it’s cracked up to be. The beginning of fame and glory feels so good as if no one can take away your shine. Many people wish upon a falling star to make their dreams come true, not knowing the control of your dreams depends on you. You control your destiny.
During the very beginning of the song is where Lil Sin is representing the icon of a falling star in a figurative manner. He is the falling star many people wish upon a make their dreams come true. When day breaks, Lil Sin hides as he doesn’t want people to see the real person that he is. The unhappiness and stress that drowns him so deep.
Now at the beginning…
He prays to be a falling star. His shine wasn’t going far. Lil Sin makes it all clear he does not like being him. His mind wants to be free, but the misery of Lil Sin not being him is killing him. Lil Sin wishes to be set free like a bird in a cage.
Lil Sin expresses his desire of wanting to be set free in the following verse with these lyrics.:
my mind wanna be free
but the misery of me not being me is killing me
I wanna be set free
like a bird in a cage
please let me turn to the page to another chapter with laughter
and my heart feels like a normal thing
He’s tired of the bright lights of the sun. He just wants to rest now as a star. It’s busy up in the sky and people won’t let him lay down. If he could give it all back. He wishes he would have done that, but Lil Sin chose to be a star in the sky and he can’t turn back. There’s too much pressure here. The fame increases every year.
Along with the happiness comes sadness. A face full of tears. All people see is the shine. They never seen a star cry. Lil Sin wonders why his soul is dying. He just wants to leave the sky. A star starts to twinkle now. At this point all the brightness starts to fade away. Brightness fades away every day. Do you still be live in a falling star? So many people are deceived by a falling star to make their wishes come true.
Lil Sin was drowning in misery. His life was feeling incomplete. Lil Sin wants to go back to Earth as his family needs him. Lil Sin’s a shooting star now that is glad to reach solid ground. Everything is normal now. He is now comfortable. All of the fame is gone. Everything went wrong on the words to his last song.
He is here to live life now. Raise children and love people. He wants to quit doing music but he doesn’t how. He took a long 8 year break from doing music. Lil Sin was trying to run from it. Overall he has done too many shows now. Too may flows now. Nothing makes sense to him.
All of the fame is gone as Lil Sin is back to working a normal job. He’s known to work very hard. As Lil Sin puts it, “I just wanna be me.” Now that Lil Sin’s a fallen star, you can make a wish on him.
Fans don’t see the stress of being a star. All stars aren’t blessed. Stars never get rest. Can you handle a busy schedule? Can you deal with a lot of people every day?
Come On Man is a rap song filled with trap beats over the new school rap sound very much similar to the drill music coming from Chicago. Trap beats meet the sound of southern rap on Come On Man. The sound coming from this song is very futuristic considering it was recorded in 2013. The song was produced by Bolo Kirk of Dirt Music.
Come On Man is about the bragging rights of Lil Sin. It represents his status in the music game. Lil Sin did a song with Pimp C and Bun B of UGK. In fact, Lil Sin has done many songs with Houston rap artists and Port Arthur rap artists. He’s been doing music for a long time now.
Long Road is about the uncertainty of where Lil Sin wants to go in life in terms of direction. Lil Sin searches for directions of where to go in life in this song.
Long Road has an angelic piano selection to fit the mood of uncertainty of life. Its piano used has a delicate sound and fits into the harmonics. This song uses a wide variety of instruments such as a delicate grand piano, electronic keyboard, guitar, xylophone, and a beat machine. The bass is set a pitch of 33Hz.
Lil Sin appears to be lost. He asks God to take control of steering his life by figuratively controlling the steering wheel of his life. “Lead me where you want me to go.” is what Lil Sin tells God. He’s ready and tired of being lost in life.
His mission is to find peace as he has been dealing with the devil too long. His life is strange than any normal man. Lil Sin carries burdens and pain. He’s a warrior in God’s name. He’s looking forward to ease pain and rise again. He feels alive again.
Lil Sin sees blessing that he never had such as a family who loves him. That’s something that you cannot buy with cash.
God chooses his angels by using time and order. Lil Sin can’t wait until he crosses that border of becoming one of God’s chosen angels. He will greet God with arms open wide. Tears of joy will flow through his eyes.
Lil Sin explains that he is lost on the road of life during the chorus.:
I’m lost on this long road
I’m searching for a way to go
He used pace back and forth in this world of lost souls. This long road nad hard journey is hard to take control of or take control over. It’s hard to take control when your life has no destination or destiny. You live in moments of whatever happens that you learn to take it. No foundation is heartbreaking.
At first his vision was kind of blurry. Now he sees clearly. His life is good and he’s living free. Nothing but family and homies. Ain’t got no enemies.
Leave Me Alone is about Lil Sin’s experience in the music industry. The mood for the song Leave Me Alone is quite mournful. The song has a soul sampled used.
Lil Sin has experienced the fame, fortune, greed, lust, and betrayal in the music industry. He’s suffered enough. The road has been rough since the first day of his career. He has been independent since the beginning. Day by day, poster by poster. Fans get closer.
He gave the music industry everything he had including his love and blood. Lil Sin fell in love with music at first sight. He thought he would never leave. In the middle of the song is where Lil Sin claims music to be downfall. He left his children to take long trips and tour across the world.
Life Matters is a song where Lil Sin expresses the desire to change as a human being. Now life matters. Make the change that is necessary when life matters.
5/5*****!!
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L.O.C aka Carolina Voodoo Child - Belo See Leval album review
The Carolinas have always been fairly heavily slept on in the rap game. L.O.C aka Carolina Voodoo Child is one of the artists who is a veteran from the region of the Carolinas, specifically Rock Hill, South Carolina. Belo See Leval is an album where the sounds of East Coast hip hop meet Southern rap. South Carolina rap has been around but just over looked. One word to describe this album would be lyrical.
The highlights for this album is graphic design for the artwork of this album. The graphic design was done by none other than the iconic Pen N Pixel from Houston, Texas. What is amazing is the fact that the artist is sitting in a sea next to a sunken ship with buried treasure. Never mind that he’s located beneath a terrifying shark floating near top water. Anyone notice the fiddler crab?
28 Gramz has the underground sounds of East Coast hip hop. Notice how the vinyl cuts & scratches are performed appropriately. The treble is laced with that heavy bass sound prevalent in East Coast hip hop. Treble is elevated by +12. The song itself is only 2 minutes and 15 seconds long.
28 Gramz came from the 1997 single called Nighty Night that was released on cassette. The song 28 Gramz was produced by my MC Bass aka Young God and recorded at School Boy Recording Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Nighty Night is where East Coast hip hop meet Southern rap. Treble is elevated by +2 at a heavy level thus the track is treble heavy and not so much reliant on bass. Nighty Night came from the 1997 single called Nighty Night that was released on cassette. The song 28 Gramz was produced by my MC Bass aka Young God and recorded at School Boy Recording Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Talk About Um is about how people ride L.O.C.’s dick due to his style of rapping. One word to describe this track is lyrical. His vocal capabilities truly prosper here. Talk About Um at School Boy Recording Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina and Spoonfed Studios in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
4/5****!
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L.O.C. aka Carolina Voodoo Child - Palmetto State Playaz album review
Palmetto State Playaz from L.O.C. aka Carolina Voodoo Child is another South Carolina rap album that was overlooked by the masses back in 2006. South Carolina rap has been around but just over looked. This time the production and sound are a bit more updated than his Belo See Leval album was. He used different studios to record his track instead of using one studio as he did with his Belo See Leval album.
Wut Was I Thinking has a rap meets R&B/soul type of vibe to it. The song showcases a much calmer side to L.O.C. as he does not spout out as much profanities as usual. Its mood is peaceful. Wade Witherspoon is the guest artist featured on the song. The song was recorded at Spoonfed Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina and was produced by DJ Q aka Q Heffna.
The only downside is that L.O.C.’s vocals are all over the place. His vocals go from left speaker to right speaker giving the vocals an unbalanced feel. Other than that, Wut Was I Thinking is a stellar wonderful L.O.C. song soothing to your ears.
Cuz I’m A is a futuristic raw rap song that is an original by L.O.C. himself. Wade Witherspoon plays a mean sounding guitar on the song Cuz I’m A. That is what really stands out the most. It was his idea to add an electric guitar into the song. The song Cuz I’m A was produced in 2006 by DJ Q aka Q Heffna and was recorded at Spoonfed Studios in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Brother O Man and The Side Boyz contribute to the background vocals.
Rubin Studdard Was a track that was given to L.O.C. when he was in Nashville, Tennessee. It was later recorded at Spoonfed Studios.
5/5*****!
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Mean Gene - Back To The Old School Class Dismissed album review
You might think of Mean Gene as a lost Beastie Boys member. That is because of his style to blend in old school rap and hip hop sounds into rock music. The whole album is a rap rock fusion. That is what you will think when you listen to the Back To The Old School Class Dismissed album by Mean Gene.
DJ Clay did most of the production, Carlito-D wrote all of the album, and Mean Gene was the incredible visionary of this album. The production is samples from cuts of various old school Hip Hop/Rap classics everywhere.
This album was released in 1995 on CD and cassette by Boomin' Records in Flint, Michigan. The front cover are the colors of the Green Bay Packers football team colors with the mascot hornet. You would have thought Mean Gene was from Wisconsin. For those who don't know, Mean Gene is from Flint and not Lansing, Michigan or Wisconsin as many people thought he was. He was going to school at University of Michigan - Lansing at the time, which is why you see the green and yellow colors on this album. Mean Gene is a real cool big dude. Mean Gene was an artist out of Flint, Michigan at one time.
Anyway…On with the album!
The first two songs are based off of beer which is Mean Gene's favorite drink. The intro is called Beer Run ironically. The country samples are just yeehaw! Mean Gene loves his beer. He makes that point blank clear on the first two songs of this album. Now for those who want to know what a beer run is, look it up.
Drunk Technique uses a barrage of vinyl scratches, samples, and breakbeats with a touch of lyricism. The sound for this song is electronically polished. Mean Gene don’t play when it comes to beer.
Back To The Old School is basically going back to the basics in old school hip hop and rap. It's not just only about going back to the basics.
It's about reminiscing about the old days or preferably the 1980s in this case. Drinking beer, eating chicken and ketchup, and going to concerts. Back in the days everything was cool. Back in the days all you needed was a boombox. When somebody rocked the party, nobody got shot. As for this song, he production is samples from cuts of various old school hip hop/rap classics everywhere. Back To The Old School has that east coast sound!
It's an All Night Thing when Mean Gene is on a late night creep. Chasing skirt and licking booty. It only involves all the women that Mean Gene meets. This track is sort of a precursor to Freak Nasty - Da Dip and a successor of Skeezer Pleaser - UTFO.
Anyway this song is mainly about late night sex. You can feel that Freak Nasty vibe to it. The remix is even better! DJ Clay is on the wheels of steel and he does a superb job as usual! The bass is super heavy but not too hyphy.
Mad Flavor is laced with a Grand Funk Railroad sample heavily relying on the organ and rock guitar. You can feel the vibe of the pipe organ in harmony as if it were playing live at church on Sunday at the very beginning of this song. Yes this is the Grand Funk Railroad from the Southside of Flint, Michigan.
You can feel the harmony of the organ. The outlaw country rock sample was appropriate for this song. Mad Flavor should have been longer in terms of track duration by being 3 to 4 minutes long.
DJ Clay did a superb job on Wheels of Steel. The samples are on point. Wheels of Steel should have been longer also! Anything you know that DJ Clay does is the shit! It hits hard. DJ Clay definitely goes hard on the wheels of steel wether it be live in concert or in the recording studio,
The kick drums and tom drums were perfect fitting in the live production on Ill Time. The Beastie Boys bass sample was ill! Ill Time is hard rock mixed with rock 'n' roll. Adventures based on smoking, chicken, and alcohol is how it is at a Mean Gene show. It's all wildness and partying. Mean Gene knows how to put on a show and the crowd goes wild and ill!!
For those who don't know, Mean Gene was experimenting with the chopped and screwed sub-genre on Up On My Ship. The sounds are funky with a touch of old school rap and hip hop music. Notice the organ being used? The beats cam from a drum machine. When you’re on Mean Gene’s ship, there’s no avoiding getting drunk as hell. It’s beer after beer.
You will love the incorporated Yes Yes Ya'll sample from Beastie Boys - Slow and Low used on Yes Yes Ya'll. It has that East Coast feel to it. The timbre, beats, and production are on point! You can feel Mean Gene rockin' it during one of his live concerts on this one right here! Notice how the Tom drums are used mixed in with the beats? You can tell Mean Gene put his heart and soul into it. Mean Gene is good at what he does. The crowd at the end went wild!!
Now onto the Live Concert version of Yes Yes Ya'll!! Mean Gene put his heart and soul into performing live at his concerts on stage! Mean Gene is good at what he does. You can feel Mean Gene rockin' it during one of his live concerts on this one right here! He knows how to put on a good show. The crowd at the end went wild!! You can tell Mean Gene put his heart and soul into it. Mean Gene is good at what he does.
Here's how Mean Gene was received by his audience in the Dirty South particularly Texas. You see not too many people in Texas knew who Mean Gene was. In fact, not too many people outside of Michigan or the Midwest knew who Mean Gene was. Even during Boomin' Records prime from the timespan from the years 1995 to 1997. To sum it all up… this album was overlooked as a whole altogether.
5/5*****!!
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Lady Wray – Underneath My Feet / Guilty single review
Lady Wray – Underneath My Feet / Guilty is a hot single coming from the undergound independent soul music circuit. It was released as a “7 vinyl and as a digital download by Big Crown Records in 2016.
Underneath My Feet is a happy love song about how Nicole Wray let her guard down when she let a man sweep Nicole underneath her feet by his love. It's another gritty soul song. Underneath My Feet show cases the sassy side of Nicole Wray. Bubblegum pop meets gritty classic soul.
Guilty is a song Nicole Wray wrote herself back in 2014. She wrote Guilty about her brother being incarcerated. Nicole missed her brother during his sentence of incarceration. That is what this song is based on. Guilty is also based off of her own life experiences.
A bluesy chorus represents the vocals of Guilty. The sound is very reminiscent of 60s soul. Add that with a trio of guitars and a chorus.
5/5*****!!
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