Greetings waveriders.
Crowd funding the creation of albums has been around for a few years
now. I have happily taken part in
helping artists I like bring their latest work into the world, and I will
readily give other artists money in the future to produce new music that I hope
will enrich my life. One of the albums I
took part in funding this year was IMANI
Vol. 1 from Blackalicious.
Admittedly, Blackalicious
is my favorite hip-hop group. If you
take a look at my bio on this site's "Who We Be" section you will
discover that I have their album Blazing
Arrow, which single-handedly changed my mind about an entire genre of
music, among my top five album list.
With that in mind I didn't have to think too hard about whether or not I
wanted to further support them monetarily.
I was very confident that the music they produced would be to my liking
and it turns out I was right!
IMANI Vol. 1
throws down the good-time-gauntlet from the jump. The one, two, three punch of
"Blacka", "Ashes To Ashes", and "On Fire Tonight"
leave no doubt that Gift Of Gab is
here to profoundly stimulate your mind with his lyrical gymnastics and Chief Xcel will not be satisfied until
your whole body is gyrating to his wonderful productions. Yes friends, this music is a prime example of
the type of hip-hop that I seek out and treasure. While not the be-all and end-all I'm always more
impressed by emcees who deliver higher words per minute than those who rely on
basic phrases repeated over and over again.
Also I do enjoy electronic, club friendly music but if given the choice
I'll always prefer organic production rooted in actual instrumentation.
Similar to Blackalicious'
previous releases a musical theme is interspersed throughout IMANI Vol. 1 tying all the songs
together. That's a good thing because
there is a lot of musical variety on offer.
Emotions run the gamut. There are
joyful, happy songs. There are
boisterous, aggressive songs. There are
laid back, pensive songs. Regardless of
what you're looking to hear this album has you covered. My favorite track "We Did It Again"
falls squarely into the 'joyful, happy song' category, and it puts a smile on
my face every time I listen to it.
Waveriders IMANI Vol.
1 is a fantastic record that will improve your life. When you listen to this album the amount of
positive vibes emanating from your speakers or headphones will invariably
affect your mental state. Hearing this
music forces all the negative nonsense we all experience to fade away, at least
until the album concludes. But hey, one
press of the play button and you're back to your happy place! Join me there won't you?
-Penfold
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