Uncomfortable-
Preface: Upon first glance Andy Mineo does not look like a hip hop artist. Andy is a white Italian man from Uptown, New York. I first stumbled upon him as a pop singer. A lot of people knew him specifically as a singer. Andy addresses this in his first mixtape Formerly Known. Andy states on the very first song “they thought I was a singer”. Andy’s first aim was to blend hip-hop and gospel. Formerly Known helped Andy emerge into hip-hop with a very solid, well rounded mixtape. Building upon his mixtape release Andy sold his first album Heroes For Sale .Heroes For Sale went on to sell 30,000 copies in the first week.(See earlier review) After selling out concerts, being on BET, Shade 50, and Sway in the morning multiple times, Andy has caught a lot of people’s eyes. How he has responded with all the recent publicity, and hype is with Uncomfortable.
For those expecting more of the same….Uncomfortable is not that. Uncomfortable is about venturing new waters. The album focuses on how the idea of comfort is not always an ideal state. However we never grow through comfort, so we must embrace the discomfort of growth. Also a lot of people expecting more of the Christian side of Andy might be disappointed. While it is there in smaller doses, I notice he gets a little more controversial. They album is entirely told from Andy’s growth, and point of view from his last album. So expect lines like “I used to think Jesus was white”, and “I apologize for Christians saying God hates fag’s, I promise Jesus wouldn’t act like that”. Andy tackles a lot of uncomfortable issues from racism, politics, and selfishness. That being said, it makes the album sound bold, and like a political statement. The album is more about inserting creativity, and Andy just having fun with it.
Let’s start at track one. The title track Uncomfortable is a great start to the album. Uncomfortable starts with somber singing, describing being corrupted by our own comfort. Then the beat slaps in shifting gears. The word play becomes fast and aggressive. The words in this song stand out a lot. Andy aim’s to address a lot of apathy in our culture. And a lot of the song really resonates. The track Now I Know reminds me of the funky singing on California Love. That is scattered on the entire song. It was not my favorite lyrically. But I loved the production, and overall it’s just a catchy song to listen too as well. The track Desperado’s is the fastest song on the album. Andy just attacks the beat aggressively. The song kind of sounds like a crazy western theme. I like also the little Bon Jovi “I’m wanted Dead or Alive” chorus line. It shows off a lot of what Andy can do as a hip hop artist, and that he can legitimately rap. Not bad for a white guy.
Hear My Heart has more of a pop and jazz style. This song is very personal, as Andy takes you into the world of his big sister Grace who is deaf. And over the fact he had never learned sign language. He realized when his sister and her friends communicated, he could never understand them. Upon seeing that he realized what it was like to be in her shoes. He says “even though you’re deaf, I pray you forgive me for the year’s I’ve been blind”. One of my personal favorite tracks on the album is called Vendetta. Half of Vendetta sounds like an acapella and once again shows what Andy can do lyrically. I love the hook as well. Andy uses the Hail Mary style chorus to say “Pac did a lot more for me than Barack, La dadada, la la la la”. The chorus means that now a days artists have a lot more power than the politicians. Andy states that politicians can’t relate to us from where they are sitting.
Overall a love the diverse creativity that Andy has placed over the album. I think the producer Illmind really helped him bring his album dream to life. No track on the album feels entirely the same. This is a breath of fresh air. The album seems a bit short coming in at thirteen tracks. Also it features no featured artists from his signed company Reach Record. Andy said in his previous mixtape Formerly Known “if hip hop is a diary then what’s inside of me is on those mp3’s”.That’s exactly how this album feels lyrically. One of the lines that displays this is in the track Ghost. Ghost is more acoustic describing an old friend, who no longer is around anymore. Andy says “the closer you are the deeper the cut the longer the healing”. I think Andy is in an interesting place. It will be interesting to see how the fame and exposure, affects his next album. Overall this has got to be my favorite hip-hop album of the year. Give it a listen and sound off in the comments section.
