Reviews
One.Be.Lo.
S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2005-06-29
The first time I heard about One.Be.Lo. was when I was looking for The Perceptionists album on Amazon. So I figured if people like them both its likely that I could also feel the same way since I enjoy The Perceptionists quite a bit. I will say this the comparison has merit due to the what they rap about, more or less the sound is similar as well drawing on old school and new school influences to mix the beats. I would say the only big differences would be that it has less aggression to it and overall the songs have less pace then The Perceptionists. It doesn't make it bad though, just makes it more chill, so really it depends on what type of mood your in when you want to listen to hip-hop, I would definitely say this album suits a 'joint' session. I like the name and package of One.Be.Lo. he seems to have a fair bit of independence to his sound, I would probably be able to pick it out, mostly because he is mixing that chill edge with old school and it really has a catchy ring on some of the tracks. Don't expect him to spit out rhymes a mile a minute or to influence lots of people but one thing is for certain I like the sound of this album. I don't really know who to compare him too other than The Perceptionists, but I think thats because its rare that I hear someone draw on an older sound for their album, however I like it, it mixes well with this vocals and the other samples he has thrown in. Its not really a epic saga, but its one I am willing to take a closer look at anyways just because I think it could be fun.
Track two is " The UNDERGROUND", and it starts with a woman saying "one man army" over and over and its kinda creepy but them it kicks in with the sicke beat. I suppose it is almost a dark beat, nothing too depressing but I believe the mix of the beat was done using a string instrument, something like a violin but probably a bit bassier. Anyways its really catchy and I think you will agree if you happen to check this guy out. The chorus portion of the song where they are saying the title of the track is quite catchy, I think they use some production effects on the voice amplification but thats fine it sounds pretty neat. Then at the end of the song they bring back the woman that is saying "one man army" over and over again, kinda weird and creepy again, but it brings that song to a full loop of closure. I suppose it has a nice effect to start and end with the same thing, One.Be.Lo. raps passionately and that I like to see, you don't have to yell or be aggressive, but you need to be passionate, and you can tell when you listen that he is sincere.
I would say my favourite song might be track six "Propanganda". The beat is really chill and catchy but I think its the subject matter that is the best part of the song which makes me enjoy the rapping a lot more than the beats in this case. That I would say is rare, but the chorus is SO catchy, "Who got the props? Who got the props? Magazines and Hollywood backdrops. Who got the props? Who got the props?..." It goes on like that and I just suggest you download the song and hear it because you won't regret the effort. To be honest if you don't download a song off a reccommendation then I'd say your pretty lazy since it doesn't take much effort to throw its name into a search engine, I mean music piracy is easy. Anyways the beat as I mentioned is chill, and I think it adds to the verse quite nicely since it doesn't really overshadow any of the lyrics. Overall I will call this my favourite song, it really has the most consistency in a One.Be.Lo. track and I think that its not that weird which is key usually in whether I will enjoy a hip-hop track.
I have to mention the 'Interlude" which is track eleven, its nothing much, just seventeen seconds of saxophone playing with a sample of old movies or two with talking. Like I said its over in no time but I just thought that it contributed nicely to the overall feel of the album. Actually I thought about it and I don't even know what a Sonogram is, which I know may be a stupid thing to admit but I don't care. So if you know what the hell it is, would you care to enlighten me?
Track thirteen is "Deceptacons", thats right the bad guys from Transformers. I enjoy the begining of the song as it sounds like a transformer talking or something, well not a transformer, since its really just an electric sound, so maybe a semi-mentally retarded transformer. Yes thats right I'm going to hell, but I don't care because this song is really nice and I'm glad I was able to hear it prior to the day or reckoning. The beat has a lot of chill to it and its accented a lot by the xylophone effects and the violin tossed in. I think that a lot of the beats carry a similar mix as far as instruments go, which makes the album fairly consistent in its overall sound. Occasionally he'll toss in some old clips from a movie, as seen in the "Interlude" and the beginning of "Can't Get Enough" featuring Magestik Legend which is track fourteen. I'm not a big fan of the adding of old movies into your hip-hop, but I suppose I could tolerate it if it was ever kept to a minimum of two songs, most artists however mix it into several and I get sick of it fast.
Lastly I'll mention track twenty, "Rocketship". This song relies heavy on piano for its sound and I think that its a welcome shift for One.Be.Lo. I think that the idea here is it almost gives him a more unbeat sound, which is kind of weird to say since its being done with the assistence of a piano. The chorus has no lyrics really just Ooohs and Yeahs which actually has a production effect making them very catchy. Actually if you notice throughout the song you will hear these sounds occasionally but only on the chorus occasions do they come together in unity. I would say that this chorus is actually quite catchy, odd I know, considering it involves no words but I don't care it is produced well. In fact all of this album has decent production, which makes me wonder who has produced it, hopefully One.Be.Lo had a lot to with it because if so that would make me have even more respect for him.
racks to Steal: "Rocketship", "Propaganda", "Deceptacons", "The UNDERGROUND"
Is One.Be.Lo.'s chill and old school exterior tired?
How does S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. stack up compared to the other hip-hop around?
Judgment Passed
Score: 8
I definitely like it, and I will hear it again, just I think its lacking that extra pace that I need in an album to throw it to the level of 9.
- Brandon