Sunday, October 21, 2012

Skyzoo - "A Dream Deferred" Album Review by Deuce

Here is a quick Album review by my good friend Deuce.Me and the god go way back to the days of O-town. Deuce will be doing Album reviews and sharing his thoughts on them for the site.






Harlem is as known for form as much as Brooklyn is known for function.  Harlem gave us Langston Hughes, Brooklyn gives us Skyzoo, and all of the above serve as pieces to understanding and appreciating the album “A Dream Deferred”.
Skyzoo gets the album off to a good start with “Dreams In A Basement”.  Backed by Jill Scott on  the hook and !llmind on the track, an airy dreamscape gives props to success and the ambition & efforts that precede it.  Pity the rewind buttons that were damaged in order to catch the first 6 bars (shown here) and the ones that follow.
Celebrating the win, celebrate what it meant
Do remember and celebrate it again
Right?, newly winners, we celebrate where it went
And sewn different, we celebrating the hem
Right, you sing along you celebrating the hymn
Bet 'em to prove me wrong you'll be celebrating their end
Being poetic on wax versus being wax poetic, a thin line that many a emcee have crossed, as early as Talib Kweli and as recent as Wale.  The later joins Skyzoo on “Spike Lee Was My Hero” and ode to Spike Lee joints and Brooklyn go-getters where Skyzoo says:
Of all of these wide bodies and whatever other callings
Of all of these Nola Darlings
The tug of wars on Strike Dunham and Dap Dunlap
The Jesus Shuttlesworths and what it took to become that
The phone booth can be where you change or where you pump at
My heroes took turns wit who would run that
So for all the Pierre Delacroixs, the Man Tans and Sleep-N-Eats
And all the money from hand to hands that we can keep
In an era where there are far too many emcees and not nearly enough mics, most choose gimmicks and shortcuts to get the attention of the few hip-hop fans left.  Listening to this lp, Skyzoo seems confident he can do that without reminding you of pointless violence and misogyny, themes that have become far too common.  Make no mistakes, this isn’t about dashikis and non-profits.  On tracks like Give It Up and Range Rover Rhythms, Skyzoo reminds you that his intentions are top 5 and getting money on the way there.
If Skyzoo’s success thus far in his career took a lot of effort, given his effortless style, its hard to tell.  Skyzoo, in nonchalant fashion, gets from point A to point B with poetic lyrics that take their time to smell the roses.  In the midst of it all he leaves it to the listener to follow along at their own pace, or not.  Seems like he’s too busy being dope to spell it out for you.  I can dig that.Right about now hip-hop needs Skyzoo, and artists like him, like each year the NBA needs rookies.  Otherwise things get real stale, real quick.  s/o to Brooklyn.


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