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Regrettably, in a previous blog post that I did some time back, I foolishly and maybe wrongly attacked a new artist as well as his music, labeling him and it "unlistenable", among other sophmoric comments. I was young and new to the blogosphere and didn't realize that there is a myriad of creeps out there who constantly use that type of negative verbage to express themselves. Being that I'm BIG D O and nobody else, and independent is how I've rolled since I was a shorty, I didn't wanna fall into the same lump of muthafuckas that have come to define the current, over the top, Hip-Hop blog landscape. I also don't wanna become known as a cat that attacks people, rather than their music. I stand by my opinion of the work in question 100%; I wasn't feeling it, however, I do wish wholeheartedly that I had taken the time to say it in a manner that was more true to self. The "artist" in question is Alucard. An up and coming, underground emcee who runs alongside some DJ's and producer's outta Brooklyn whom I've always had the utmost respect for and define the indy hustle through their label Creative Juices. To Alucard specifically I wanna say "my bad", for perhaps overstepping a critique. While I'm pretty sure you have thick skin and weren't in the least bit affected by any comments of mine, I still owe people like yourself; underground, indy artist's who do this music more so for the love than anything else, much better, even when I criticize them.
-BIG D O
When many of their fans think of Creaive Juices Music', they think of a grassroots movement filled with talented purveyors of the true Hip-Hop sound. I've reviewed a few of their "Endless Varieties" compilations before and as a whole they are formidable in terms of how densely packed their crew is with raw skills. It's these condensed, "raw skills" that I thought of most when I listened to longtime crew member Alucard's newest offering "Watch Them Fall". Ripe with music (23 tracks), beats and unabridged lyrics, Alucard has successfully used this release as a catalyst to rise from being what I would label a semi-inproficient and unconventional beginner, to a top notch and gloriously upgraded artist. He has arrived as a truly subversive and absorbing emcee, and despite all past indiscretions, I would venture as far as saying he might be one of the most talented rhymers on the extensive Creative Juices roster.
As everyone saw I began this post with a retraction. The Retraction was about Alucard, but more explicitly his deficiencies as a vocalist. The true root of where my untimely comments came from wasn't so much in Alu himself as it was his music, or rather the delivery of his music. When I first heard him rhyme I believe it was on the initial "Endless Varieties" compilation. I had a noted disdain for his flow and delivery....I found them supremely awkward and exceedingly off-beat. I couldn't for the life of me bring myself to say that he was a technically good artist and truthfully the shit he was rhyming about wasn't really popping off with me too much either. He sounded like an off-beat, vampire-lore inspired weirdo. It wasn't something that resonated well with me at all. I thought his approach was gimmicky and narrow.
Fast forward to 2008. I slide the "Watch Them Fall" CD into my stereo and literally I'm blown away by what I hear, from beginning to end. Alucard has found a way to focus his energy and shed any traces of being trivial. He's tied up the loose ends and fixed the problems with his verbal mechanics. In other words, The boy has tightened his shit up somethin' serious. Taking a more centralized line in his content and falling back a great deal on the flimsy and generic darkness, Alu maintains his old intensity and also manages to keep the fever pitch of exaggerated violence perfectly in tune with aptly scored production.
On "Poison Tester" Alu impressively rides producer IDE's break-neck drum pattern to a tee without falling off beat once. That improvement in his flow is no fluke either, he routinely displays it throughout the record. His once suspect delivery is now altogether in check. It's shifted from awkward spilling into a controlled fury that is reminiscent more so of a young Dom Pachino than a wierd emo kid getting over excited in a cypher. The music itself is amazing. Every track is well produced. The "Creative Juices way" of cross hybridizing boom bap drums with abrasive and ominous samples doesn't just let it's presence be known, it stands up and screams "here!!", like a 3rd grader during morning head counts. The sinister production skills of ever cogent front man IDE are ever-present as well, but it's Alu's self-produced "Octane" that unexpectedly highlights his talents as a decent provider of macabre beats as well as lines. Something I think he should continue to follow up on.
Generally, I think that "Watch Them fall" can feel out any fan of good Hip-Hop. While there are certainly moments that are more hardcore and emoesque than others, it's the sound of straight up doctrinal hip-hop tracks like "Don't Get" and "Smiley Face Killers", that should reel in even the most stalwart underground opposer's. As I hinted at before Alu in spots sounds unmistakeably like Dom Pachino. Unfortunately he somewhat momentarily suffers from the same "can of worms" that Dom does/did. Those "worms" being the noted absence of sturdy choruses in his song structure's and maybe some jumbling of words here and there. Both defects I find are more likely to be at most, tiny glitches in a huge matrix of sumptuous and profuse music. They become tolerable because the whole body of work is comprehensively way above average.
This is definitely what I like to see happen after I give an artist a bad review. I like being made into a liar. Most of the time that means that in between the time I wrote the biting or mild or cutting or whatever type of criticism about you, you; the artist went back and decided at some point to put in some work. The "drawing board" is where we all eventually must go. It's in many ways what I think enhances our skills, no matter who we are. When it happens in Hip-Hop I'd like to think that for the genre as a whole it's positive. In this case it overwhelmingly was. Whether Alucard consciously or unconsciously made the decision to get better is unknown to me. What I do know is dope music and Alu has provided that music in stunning fashion. "Watch Them Fall" is an outstanding project and hopefully only a precursor of what is still yet to come from him.
-BIG D O
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