Review Summary: A flawless release from 4 of the best rappers Rhymesayers ever had to offer.
Welcome to where pride is broken like pencils, within the spectrum the passion is tenfold.
Disclaimer: Each member assumes a pseudonym on this record. Slug is Sep Sev-Two, I, Self is Pat Juba, Musab is Gene Pool, Swift is General Woundwart. To avoid confusion, I used their regular emcee titles to talk about them.
The Dynospectrum. What a perfectly fitting name for this masterpiece of an album. The word "dynospectrum" has no meaning whatsoever, but it pretty much defines itself upon the first listen of this LP.
I Self Devine,
Musab,
Swift, and
Slug were all still very young and just aching for their 45 seconds of limelight in each song.
Ant as a producer has always been a master of creating a complex and haunting beat while maintaining an element of artistic simplicity. This album was proof that Rhymesayers Entertainment had (and still has) so much to offer the hip-hop world.
The album kicks off with
You Can Lose Your Mind which begins with a ghostly echo and I, Self flat out letting you know that this is an act of creative expression. He invites you to their world, telling you to
react off dis. Off the energy that we get whipped. We get with this, you could lose your mind off this, feel this shit. On and off infinite. This track is a great display of one of the many strengths of the record, each rappers trademark cadence. I, Self has a bouncy emphasis on each line that drops effortlessly on each bass hit, Swift sounds like the eager little kid in the group just aching to be heard (and often delivering an amazing verse), Musab just has that sort of "swagger" too his sound that just sounds effortless, and this was released just a year after Slug put out Overcast! which was his lyrical "hay-day".
Another upside to "The Dynospectrum" is the fact that, unlike a lot of other releases, this isn't just Slug trouncing every other rapper on the mix. Each member equally puts forth an exemplary performance and has some timeless rhymes. While this is not necessarily a lyrically profound record, the lyrics that are put forth are all well-arranged and catchy...and that's really all you want to get out of it. The casual sound of this album makes you feel like you're hanging out in the recording booth with each emcee. It feels like a sort of constant freestyle session which makes for a consistently entertaining listen. This album contains is the perfect balance between personal experiences and completely whacked out imagery they all put forth. Swift is caught either talking about making you
shit blood, while smoking chocolate thai-stick bud. Or on the other hand he'll be reminiscing about how he's lost
jobs, girlfriends, and even squabs. Its the personal display of each rapper that makes this album so alluring.
Each beat on this record is absolutely gut-punching. From the bass-heavy
Introspectrum to the rapid-paced (for this record)
Tenfold. Every sample on this record sounds completely different from one another, despite typically maintaining a rather simple formula: kick-ass strings sample over HUGE sounding drums. Some of the real standout beats on this record are
Introspectrum, Traction and Armor. Each is a perfect display of just how fantastic Ant is as a producer. He has the innate ability to make a rapper standout over his verse by occasionally dropping out the tasteful bass drum, or a quick scratch in the perfect place.
A track-to-track review of this album would not have done its justice because not one song stands out from one another. Every single song on this is a treat and has at least one thing that willl have you throwing your arms up and yelling "DOMINO MOTHA***A!" This record is deserving of a perfect score because no matter the setting I'm in, I can throw this on and it always receives a positive reaction. Its easy to digest, smart, and extremely well executed. I especially love listening to this on a good long drive in a car with an ass-blowing subwoofer. Go listen to this, come on vatooo!
