11. Dendelude II

You most likely took part in one of those discussions too: Who's the best emcee? Well, while some names are obvious, this review shall be throwing a new one into the mix: Dendemann. He's one half of Eins Zwo, the group that blew up with "Danke, Gut", from their first album "Gefährliches Halbwissen". However, that's all good and such, but how can I prove this to non-German speaking folks, as he rhymes in that language and with just translating the rhymes, too much would get lost. Maybe you should take my word for it, maybe you should start to learn German. Hmmm.... I wonder......

The album starts with "Bombe", that's one of the strongest lyrical efforts that ever reached these Swiss ears. It starts with "Falls Du noch nicht rapps, ich sag' mal, Du würdest gern / machs wie ich, reim Keybes Kayne auf Kürbiskern / Dein Lohn mein Sohn, Du kannst der nächste sein / muss man zwar Texte schreiben, keine Angst, da wächst Du rein" [rougly translated: "if you don't rap yet, I guess you'd like to / well do it like I do and rhyme Keybes Kayne with pumkin seed / your benefit my son could be that you are next / well, you gotta write lyrics, but don't fret that grows on you"]. The quotable lines are identical with the whole verse!. This is a lyrical exhibition, that not many emcees are able to do: this talks straight to you, without going for the long and dictionary words. It features the clever twists, there's an actually topic to this. And that's why we are not able to find enough words of praise for this, and so is "alles andere ist so unrafiniert wie Rohrzucker".

Things are continuing dope too, as "Rechte Dritter" is cleverly talking about the sampling rules. The beat is done in a Pete Rock, ca. 1994 style, while Dendemann is not even trying to be funny anymore, but just makes this a witness report that's elaborate and eloquent. "Undsoweiter" then goes for the more bouncy, as this could be enjoyed in a club, inspiring the people to get their boogie on. Again there's a topic to this, as it's just talking about that whatever misstep you do, things will continue on. Next there's "Ey Du", where Dendemann is addressing all those that try so badly to come across hard, those that hold up the wall at the clubs, those that wear the winter jackets in summer, with a conclusion going: "do you want respect, well then give it to others". Moving on, the first part of the jazzy interlude series is coming on with "Dendelude I", where a piano and bass is giving this a scat feel. Here Dendemann is basically talking about his short comings, commenting that he can't be more than the Dendemann.

Next up is "Extrablatt", where some media trends are being explored, meaning the press system is getting some blows, and as a media studies student myself, I can say, that Dendemann shows a wide knowledge of the system and how it works. We are getting a little less serious again on "Unschuld Vom Lande", a track that once more features a blissful production, in the best of summer styles, being just the tad bit sad, but still hopeful. And lyrically Dendemann is talking about the mental, but also physical trip back home, what also means reflecting on his past, and his path. "Der Eine & Der Andere" is not as philosophical as it could have been, but it cleverly shows the two sides to a story that seems to come with every story, and also about the occurance that there's always someone that knows it better. A few guest are then invited to do "Altes Lied Von Und Mit Mutter Natur", that has Mju Biese and Nico Suave rhyme too, and this takes us to "Dendelude II", that's even jazzier due to the horn. There's also some turntablism scratching going, and so even the interlude is madly creative.

"Aha" features a somewhat more complex beat, with a staggering drum, and this could be considered the track where Dendemann is taking his position on the sofa in the psychiatrist's office. Tracks like "Vatertag" will then make sure that some people will consider the first album to be better. But again not because of its lyrical content, it talking about Dendemann's father, giving him props and thanks. Naw, but due to the beat that is not totally appealing. "Discjockeys" is better, and it's also the first single. The beat is having a very dope stop and go feel, with D' adopting his flow accordingly. Now, when he was praising his father on the track before, here he's making this the love song to all the DJs. Yes, this is a track simply to give props to the people behind the decks. Now, how few of these have we heard lately? Christening our generation, we descend from Generation X to "Generation T", where the 'T' stands for t-shirt. So we are the t-shirt generation, and Dendemann is talking about the phenomenon of t-shirts, and while you probably doubt it, this is very interesting, and featuring clever lines like "heute geht's nicht um Preis wenn der Schneider richtig heist".

And then there's the flute of "Dendelude III", and with "Schon Unterwegs" again featuring a dope beat, and this also lets us know, that maybe there are too few of them on here (and the wordplay: "ich steh zu meinen Lastern wie Spediteure" - damn). Then there's only the "Outro" left and I am to come up with a clever ending for the review. Look, Dendemann accomplishes the rare feat, where you want to hear each and every lyric, each and every line. You are listening to this, as if it would be a book, and the plot is mad exciting. Yes, the beats are not able to back up this enormous quality, but they are not barely alright, but are rather settling in a cool territory. And together with the words from Dendemann, this is a must have album.