The thing about "enlightened" hip-hop, or "thought rap" is that it almost always takes itself too seriously (think Talib Kweli), or it tries too hard to throw in something light hearted and ends up sounding insincere (think Common). Not everyone can make Things Fall Apart.
SONOGRAM definitely takes itself too seriously, evidenced most clearly in its length and the copious use of clips of dialogue from movies, and speeches by Malcolm X. At 79 minutes it is easily one of the longest rap albums I've ever listened to, and there is stuff here that probably could have been left on the cutting room floor. Or at the very least, saved and used as B sides. But that overly serious tone can be easily forgotten because of how open hearted One Be Lo is throughout the course of the album. He only gets preachy on a couple tracks ('The Ghetto' and 'Propaganda' being the worst offenders), and for the rest of the time it's really like he's just talking to you, telling you how he feels. But the lyrics are NOT the reason to listen to this album. They are straightforward and simplistic. Everything he's saying has been said before, and much more eloquently. The reason to listen to this album is the production.
The soundscape here is bleak without being bland, restrained without being tame, evocative without being exploitive, and confident throughout. There are no samples from better songwriters here to bind you to the song with some kind of pavlovian response mechanism. These are straight beats put together with scratchy low-fi pianos, Rhodes keyboards, upright bass, and real woodwinds that sound like they were recorded in the village vanguard in 1965. I mean, when is the last time you heard an Oboe on a rap album?? Yeah. Me neither. And all the pieces are put together masterfully, with Lo's easy laid back flow (he seems to be channeling Mos Def) riding each track and weaving between the various instruments instead of needing to be the focal point or the backbone.
The result, despite whether or not you like his lyricism, is that it is impossible not to bob your head to almost every song on this album. And the picture being painted with the sound lends a certain eloquence to the presentation as a whole, that the lyrics do lack. There is no new ground being broken here, but this album is true artistry, which is something that clearly can't be said for most of the hip-hop scene.
SONOGRAM definitely takes itself too seriously, evidenced most clearly in its length and the copious use of clips of dialogue from movies, and speeches by Malcolm X. At 79 minutes it is easily one of the longest rap albums I've ever listened to, and there is stuff here that probably could have been left on the cutting room floor. Or at the very least, saved and used as B sides. But that overly serious tone can be easily forgotten because of how open hearted One Be Lo is throughout the course of the album. He only gets preachy on a couple tracks ('The Ghetto' and 'Propaganda' being the worst offenders), and for the rest of the time it's really like he's just talking to you, telling you how he feels. But the lyrics are NOT the reason to listen to this album. They are straightforward and simplistic. Everything he's saying has been said before, and much more eloquently. The reason to listen to this album is the production.
The soundscape here is bleak without being bland, restrained without being tame, evocative without being exploitive, and confident throughout. There are no samples from better songwriters here to bind you to the song with some kind of pavlovian response mechanism. These are straight beats put together with scratchy low-fi pianos, Rhodes keyboards, upright bass, and real woodwinds that sound like they were recorded in the village vanguard in 1965. I mean, when is the last time you heard an Oboe on a rap album?? Yeah. Me neither. And all the pieces are put together masterfully, with Lo's easy laid back flow (he seems to be channeling Mos Def) riding each track and weaving between the various instruments instead of needing to be the focal point or the backbone.
The result, despite whether or not you like his lyricism, is that it is impossible not to bob your head to almost every song on this album. And the picture being painted with the sound lends a certain eloquence to the presentation as a whole, that the lyrics do lack. There is no new ground being broken here, but this album is true artistry, which is something that clearly can't be said for most of the hip-hop scene.