Review Summary: If you’re looking for important lyrics, welcome to some tip-top political, religious, philosophical and ideological rap. But where are the awing punchlines?
Despite its sound, Senim Silla is not a Muslim name, it’s “all is mines” backwards. And all is truly belonging to Ross Rowe, well…at least in the Waterworld’s rap scene. Despite Eminem ruling the mainstream, and Royce da 5’9” ruling the underground (in terms of Michigan rap), Binary Star was the best thing to come out of the Michigan rap scene. Their deep trains of thought and intricate wordplay made them a fan favorite amongst lyrical purist rap fans. But, Binary Star broke up following
Masters of the Universe, resulting in One Be Lo and Senim Silla going their separate ways. Senim Silla finally produced an album in 2007,
The Name The Motto The Outcome, and it’s much deeper than
Masters of the Universe, but there’s quite a bit missing.
Despite being a great MC, the lyrics are always put into the forefront of a Senim Silla performance, especially considering the sample-ridden, often dark, lo-fi production. Despite being a lyrical whiz, Senim Silla sacrifices humor for meaning. The epic punchlines and metaphors he exhibited with Binary Star are absent, replaced with just- good, solid ones (“Thoughts take flight, like Japanese at Pearl Harbor”) giving this album a hollow feel in contrast to his Binary Star days. But, looks are so deceiving, this album is perhaps more dense and deep than most hip-hop albums. Rather than the typical meaningful rap which just contains bitter musings about project life, and American government,
The Name The Motto The Outcome expands its bitterness towards the entire world, religion, people and life in general. Taking a more chaotic stance towards it, “F*ck law and order, f*ck government, f*ck media, f*ck church, got a problem with it – f*ck you,” with semi-sensible violence for reasons other than liking different colors. Senim Silla lashes out at the world low quality beats ranging from sounds such as acoustic to elevated and inspirational to dark to synth-y and upbeat, and pulls it off better than any other rapper could only hope to.
Despite a lacking supplement of incredible punchlines,
The Name The Motto The Outcome is still a great listen, and is an awe-inspiring change of pace from the shoot-screw-spend mentality of most rap, and sends the listener into a dimension of pontification…and the immersion is beautiful.
