I've never really liked Timbaland. His track on Obie Trice's first album is the only skip track of the lot, and he ruined "Apologize" with that remix of it. King Push - Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude has all but changed my mind. The very short album Push dropped for us a week before Christmas, with production from the aforementioned Timbo, Boi-1da, Kanye West and more, manages to cut every corner the right way.
With 33 minutes, there is no time for bullshit. Which is good, because quite a bit of My Name Is My Name's 46 minutes was used for unfortunate bullshit. He cuts straight to the point from the get-go; "leave your conscience at the door, we done hid the monsters in the floor". An ominous statement, matched in scale by the beat - the ascending vocal sample, cut off at the end as it loops, and the drums raining down hard. It's just as good on the next track, which is the lead single " Untouchable ". An eerie and Icy introduction, but soon followed by some bangin' drums that push the track on relentlessly. The chorus is great too, with the Biggie sample - " Untouchable, uncrushable, runnin' in a 600, runnin' in a 600" looped again is just insanely catchy. The eeriness continues, as the beat shudders up and down like a twitching monster, stopping only when Push does. Not all of the energy is as dark as these two songs, however, leading to some lesser moments; The-Dream's two appearances here are like impaling a fluffy marshmallow onto a rusty spike, which doesn't exactly match the dark mood, especially on "M.P.A.". A song that at first disappointed due to me expecting a Kanye and Rocky verse, but grew on me once I got used to it. The instrumental is so chilled out, and the vocal sample during the chorus sounds uplifting, and even spiritual. In my opinion, "Keep Dealing" takes the title of best song. What sells it most, apart from Timbaland's unusually good sweeping production on this track, is the unexpected but great guest feature from Beanie Sigel. A veteran past his prime, but as of this album, still here in the game, his raspy flow is unique and his lyrics fit the coke-rap theme very well. The beat is progressive and fleshed out, and reminds me of Big Sean's "100" from his Detroit mixtape. There really isn't that much negative stuff to say about this album. While the beats are a huge reason this album is so great, there are a few that I really don't like, notably on "Got Em Covered" featuring Ab-Liva. Another Timbo beat, this one sticks out like a sore thumb against the rest of his work here - it's bubbly, it's bouncy, it's speedy. While it still has a deep-falling bass line behind it, everything else is far too vibrant and buoyant. Ab-Liva's verse isn't exactly great either, it's pretty stock standard. But out of 10 tracks, that's the only track I really didn't like, which is a pretty good ratio. This album is perfect a short listen when you want to put something on but don't know if you'll have time to finish it, or if you want some good music from a good artist over some deep production and backed with some good choruses that feature great melodies. 7.5/10 |
201820162015Scores0-30 = Bad
31-49 = Sub-par 50-60 = Average 61-70 = Decent 71-80 = Good 81-89 = Great 90-99 = Incredible 100 = Perfect Archives
September 2018
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