Review Summary: It's rap, it's rock; but it doesn't sound ridiculous this time round- a brilliant album from a rapper trying to fix the scene..
These days, there's hardly a band or artist who can fuse rock n roll
and rap together without sounding a little out of place, a little simulated, a little forced. There's bands who don't sound good at all misxing together rock and rap. This is normally because it's normally heavy rock, metal or punk in the background, and the mix just sounds far too extreme. Enter, Hyro Da Hero.
Hyro, who has gathered together his band-mates from such bands as
At The Drive In, has decided to used minimal punk rock in the background of his tracks. The rapper, who is an extremely good rap artist, has also taken a turn on the genre in a literal sense. There's no hoes, or bitches; guns or pussy. Hes rapping to get messages across, to try and fix whats wrong with hip-hop. He's political, he's in your face, but he's not full of himself. He's talented, and he knows it, but he doesn't tell you about it. He just shows you, accepts your judgement, and moves on. He doesn't care what you think about him, as highlighted in the album opener, Grudge. (If rappers don't like me, I don't give a ***), a powerful lyric, not challenging, but telling people straight. As this is a hip-hop album, there is your fair share of 'f's and 'n's, and interestingly, some people may find the song A Conversation With Hip Hop a little 'Hyro Da Hypocritical', as he mentions about all the 'cussing' in modern day rap, but Hyro doesn't have the cleanest of vocabularical ranges.
The album starts off strongly, and he gets Grudge off his chest. A big '*** you' to all the rappers who he see's ruining the industry, and a statement about his intentions of changing it back to good old fashioned hip-hop. His spitting techniques and talents really shine throughout. This is also shown in songs such as We Still Popular, *** You (Say It To Your Face) and Beam Me Up, Scotty.
The song that shines the most, and works the best with the infusion of rock, is Ghetto Ambience. A raw, powerful, almost punk-like tune, highlighting the many issues of 'the street'.
Bear in mind, however, if you dislike hip-hop, that Hyro is different. He is trying to bring two genres of music together, that he knows is already a failed feat, and actually succeeded in it not sounding ridiculous. He has somehow found the balance, and is worthy of many more chances to show the world that hip-hop isn't all guns and sex. Its the world, and the people in it.
