Today, EX2 (E Times Two) and MASSMEN member Gel Roc released an album called Beautiful Tragedy–you can cop it on iTunes or from Abolano Records and believe me when I tell you that it’s $9.99 well spent. Beautiful Tragedy is a compilation of sixteen tracks that have been produced in its entirety by Xczircles, the cuts were provided by DJ Drez, and it features many rappers who are prominent in the underground scene.
Sometime around March this year, Abolano Records released “Step Science”, a single off of the album featuring AWOL ONE (The ShapeShifters) and Vyrus (EX2), conveniently coupled with a music video that was directed by Outlier.
“Step Science” gave a lot of insight regarding the mood of the whole album, with the beats a little on the darker side, a little melancholic, a little brooding–I’ve been listening to this album for a week now (thank you for the advanced digital copy, Gel Roc & Abolano Records!) and I love every single song on this album.
I’m not gonna sit here and act like I know a lot about hip-hop, nor am I gonna sit here and ramble on and on as if I’m a music connoisseur (or connoisseuse, in correct French grammar) and throw out all these industry terms at you all. You don’t want to sit through all that, it doesn’t sound genuine, and truthfully…it’s been a while since I last wrote up an album review.
Let me talk about a couple of the tracks I really like.
Track One: Trust to Dust.
“Hurry but don’t rush, hold it but don’t touch, say it but don’t fuss, you got it but not much. Guess but don’t bluff, test but don’t flunk, trust to the dust.”
“From life to death, the good and the bad, we’re pushing the limits, committed to finish with no burden or proof, just a verse and the booth about the ups and downs, the smiles and frowns, yeah we do it yeah, we do it year ’round ’til it’s clear…”
For it being the first song of the album, I love the instrumentals that are behind the lyrics. Is it the organ(??!)..whatever’s providing that epic piano-but-way-more-dope sound is seriously ear candy. Not to mention the fact that the chorus is way catchy. In a good way, not the annoying Rihanna way.
Track Five: Beautiful Tragedy featuring Abstract Rude (Abstract Tribe Unique, Haiku d’Etat).
“I came from the streets so I ain’t hit my peak, I had to get over the hump so I could crawl from underneath. My head won’t hang in defeat, I never gave up belief, sticks and stones mangle but hey, you can’t phase me. You could imagine what I’ve been through could traumatize but I turned it to a beautiful tragedy. Accepting what the universe had for me, tested by free will but held down by gravity.”
I love the jazzy feel of this song, and I love that Ab Rude is in this track–he’s gotta be one of my favorite rappers. Both of their voices go very well together (which is something I’m sure they didn’t really think about but only I would notice) and it reminds me of that old-school underground feel. Just a little bit. Also, that first verse hit me kind of hard and struck a personal chord, which is the goal for any artist (dealing with any medium)–as an artist, you definitely want to achieve that.
Overall, I’m diggin’ the mood and the production of this whole album, and it’s good to hear a mix of rappers come together for a song. (Honestly, Longevity?!?! I haven’t seen that name around in a while, and so many other familiar names!!)
This is the first hip-hop album I’ve listened to in a while (seriously, I’ve been on that soul, r&b, neo-genre tip) and I absolutely love it.
Here are some pictures of the packaging (thank you Gel Roc for mailing it my way!)
