The introduction of Epademik’s street album “Addicted to the Grind” starts off with a definition of addiction and leads into a skit that reminded me of some of the skits you might have heard on those classic NWA albums. The crisp engineering immediately impressed me once the lead track “I’m an Addict” jumped in. Epademik’s vocals ride the bounce of the beat perfect and the flips in the pitch of his delivery keep the energy flowing smooth. The production of the “I’m an Addict” is almost too good to leave those empty bars at the end of the song. A DJ like me will jump in there and chop that out to a loop quick.
“Change” once again shows Epademik’s versatility and ability to ride his pitch to match the melody. Lyrically Epademik is nice, but his cadence has an old school vibe. If there is a knock on him it would be his cadence, but you have to applaud his lyrical skills. “Can U Relate” is my favorite track by the time I get four tracks deep. It has that classic west coast bounce flavor with an arrangement that keeps your attention. “Mr. Know It All” provides the opportunity to flex Epademik’s storytelling skills and the hook is absolute fire! By now the comparison to Eminem is inevitable and rather Epademik likes that or not, it’s unavoidable.
“Tight” has a heavy stomp vibe with the highlight being the hooks and the personality Epademik allows to come through with his cadence and pitch. His voice itself is a virtual instrument in “Tight” and all of that combined to make this one of my top picks from the album. “Waste My Time” sounds like it would be best heard in a grimy club with a live band headbangin’ in front of a mosh pit. Yeah, it’s aggressive and guitar-driven. Once again attention to song arrangement pays off and keeps “Waste My Time” interesting from beginning to end.
“Aired Out” returns to a classic west coast vibe and I can’t say it enough – the engineering is so crisp and well-mastered that it deserves recognition in itself. It was genius to bring in a feature on “Got That Vibe” to break up the run of Epademik’s voice. Once again he left a lot of open bars on the track which will get ripped quick – the beat is funky as hell. “Talk a Lot” is a refreshing flip, but I swear it is screaming for Warren G on the hooks. “My Issues” is the first song I come across that I just don’t like so I eventually skip to “Believe It” which again is screaming for Warren G on the hook. It could be that Epademik’s delivery sometimes sounds like Warren G and that’s why he keeps poppin’ in my head like Warren G just really needs to be on this album. I was vibin’ with “Believe It’ for a minute, but got tired of it and skipped ahead to “Hear That?”. “Ransom Sacrifice” is has a dope loop running through it that is the highlight of the track. I wasn’t impressed with Epademik’s cadence and flow or wordplay though. The final track is “True Colors” but doesn’t stand out until you get a little over a minute into it and Epademik storms in with some of the fiercest emotion in his voice heard in the entire album.
Overall the album is a good addition to your library and best suited for bumpin’ in your whip or bangin’ around the house, but I don’t really hear radio or club potential from the album. On the other hand, if you’re living on the West Coast this might qualify with much higher reviews. Definitely has a regional feel.
Get familiar with Epademik at http://www.epademik.com/
Top notch review.
ReplyDeleteFINALLY, Thank God (and all the other higher beings who people believe in) some real, constructive, criticism. First off Jay and I go back since 1999 and I love fam, he’s real cool peoples. However, I’ll be the first to admit a lot of conversations I’ve had with people who call ourselves his friends have not always been polite in regards to his ability to rap. None of us who know jay personally would outright call him wack, because he’s not. But most everyone is quick to tell you that he’s not tight. Everyone wants to be a critic about if something is dope or not, but that doesn’t help because that’s just personal opinion and can sometimes just be pure Hatorade. This article actually helps. Personally I like to think of myself as a critical thinker as well and whoever wrote this review he or she hit the nail right on the head; my sediments exactly. Cadence…cadence…cadence. We know what it means, but what does one do to improve it? What if that individual doesn’t feel the need to improve or just plain refuses to? I love Jay and have nothing but respect for the man, anybody that knows him or of him cannot deny that he’s truly dedicated to his craft, and knows the game, the history, the art of rap and hip hop music.
On another note, not about cadence, I truly hope he takes an ear to what this review is saying and finds a way to meet the interest of what music fans like to listen to; not just his own interest. I’m not talking gimmicks either. People want to “relate” to the music they listen to, otherwise they don’t want to listen.
Trill recognize Trill,
Drew Diz.
Check it, I accept all constructive criticism with open arms but this shit you're talking about weak sauce Drew.
ReplyDeleteQuote:
"I’ll be the first to admit a lot of conversations I’ve had with people who call ourselves his friends have not always been polite in regards to his ability to rap. But most everyone is quick to tell you that he’s not tight."
So what "friends" are you referring to?
Whatever so-called "friends" they are, they're not keepin it 100.
As far as my music goes I make what I feel... I could care less about trends that appear to be the "Hot Thing" at the moment. I can swear the review overall said my album is good. One song was disliked & one was skipped at the halfway point.So that's 13 out of 15 that were enjoyable.
Sounds to me like you have bred some jealousy for many years or some shit fam. Let's keep it in perspective that this album was reviewed by someone who actually heard every song. YOU haven't even heard this album, since it won't be available til November 11th...fam.
-Ep
Some of the feedback on my review has made it clear that I didn't actually make it clear if I liked the album or not so let me be clear - THIS ALBUM IS DOPE. THere are 16 total tracks, but I don't really count the first track since it is an intro and not actually a song - but even the intro was cool. So narrow it down to the 15 actual songs and I like 13 of those. Because of my roll as a DJ I always think of music in terms of where it will work for me (on my radio shows, at my club gigs, in my mixtapes). As an avid Hip-Hop head, I applaud the lyrical content, the crisp production and engineering, the ebb and flow of Epademik's pitch, etc. Most rappers start off in one pitch or tone and roll with that same pitch/tone through the entire song and that gets boring very fast. Epademik uses the pitch of his delivery like an instrument itself and that's refreshing to hear. The negatives that I pulled from the album were two songs that I simply did not like and the need for something diferent on the hooks (ie a singer coming in or a DJ scratching the hooks) to break up the sound of one person's voice for so long. My comments on his cadence I stand by; I think it would benefit Epademik to flip his cadence occasionally. Speed it up to double time, slow it down to a sing-song flavor, etc. Think of Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, TI, Rakim, Twista, Chill Rob G, etc. These artists stand out because, in part, they have a unique cadence and that is part of their signature sound. I love all the feedback and comments because it engages conversation about the album and artist, but wanted to slide in to clarify that I liked this album.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate to hear this project on a ride up to Long Beach a few months back. I'm glad the rest of his audience will finally be able to see what all the "hoopla" is about!! SMH at you fucking labels grow some nuts!! I don't see Epademik being noticed for his melodies that he creates..nor his production. Producers get the credit for being a producer when alot of the times they just gave out a beat; of course he can rap he came up in a era were that's what it was about post "swag" and in the battle scene, but the dude also knows how to produce song structure etc.. I'm diggin the lead single "I'm An Addict" that Steve Dang production suited Epademik well in letting yall know why he's "Addicted to the Grind". All in all this project deserves a listen and if you havn't heard anything from Epademik this will have you going back checking his mixtapes out and shit, Im sure of it.
ReplyDeleteEPADEMIK IS A TRUE ARTIST OF HIP HOP, WE NEED MORE OF THE ART FORM BACK IN THE GAME THAN EVER. MANY A & R'S I WOULDN'T CALL NO NAMES, BECAUSE I'M A PROFESSIONAL SAID, THAT HE IS THE FUTURE, NEW LANE NO TRAFFIC. BUDGET TALKS ARE BEING CONDUCTED BY MAJOR LABELS AND MULTI PLATINUM ARTIST WHO TOOK A BIG INTEREST IN HIS PROJECT. WE CAN ONLY WISH HIM THE BEST AND SEND HIM OUR BLESSINGS,HE IS LIVING PROOF THAT YOU STAY DOWN WITH WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN THE HARD WORK WILL PAY OFF....
ReplyDelete