11. Void (Internal Theory)

You can't talk about Eyedea without mentioning the HBO aired Blaze Battle. As a kid whose appearance makes it easy for every competitor to find material and punchlines, it still was the Rhyme Sayer kid that took home the title, and he deserved it too. And then the word started to spread: Puffy offered him a deal, a whole lot of money, a car and an apartment in NYC. So if you were Eyedea, you'd be wearing shiny suits now and do the post Mase-Dance. You'd just have graced the cover of The Source, and you would have looked awfully out of place. You'd have sold out, you'd be souled out and laughed about. But according to the legend, Eyedea turned the offer down. For good reasons it seems, as with Abilities, who also had ten second of airtime at the end of the Battle, and with the Rhyme Sayers collective, Eyedea already has a producer and a family. And while the deal would have been lucrative, would Eyedea still have been able to sleep without sleeping pills? Well, he couldn't afford to take sleeping pills, as they prevent you from dreaming. And Eyedea seems to get a whole lot of material from his dreams, making this dream music.

Listening to Eyedea rhyme demands your full attention. Maybe that's why the beginning words on "One" are distorted. However, once your concentration has built up, he's ready to "clean MTV out of your ears". Now, while we have been talking a lot about Eyedea, this is just as much Abilities' album. And he makes sure to have us know that, giving us a pure bliss beat on "Music Music". There's this incredible bass, there's the flute, and there's the total of it all. This is magical. While "Birth Of A Fish..." follows up with another good beat, here it's the twisted tale that attracts our attention, where said dream style is being done by Eyedea and his odd verses are told in a very visual way.

Without a glitch we are pushed into the forest sounds of "Powdered Water Too", that is spread over two units on the CD. Now Abilities once more comes through with an incredible offering, making the most out of so little, while Eyedea recreates Plato's cave metaphor. Part tow of this track is more a totally different entity, than an extension, it lacking the attractive quality of the first though. On "Color My World", Abilities does another one of his brilliantly reduced beats, this time featuring a harder drum. Eyedea does a testosterone version of "The Women With The Tattooed Hands", before on "Liquid Sovereignty", he opts for a repetitive rhyme. While done well, it's also done in an easily getting annoying monotone way, that Abilities tries to part, him adding a break sometime into the song. Still, this is not our favorite track.

"A Murder Of Memories" is somewhat falling prey to a similar trap, as Eyedea's sing song chorus just doesn't appeal too much. When he rhymes, the track sounds better, as his biographic words are molding well with the beat. The topic of a war veteran must draw the question though, where Eyedea draws the knowledge from, to do this characterization. "Blindly Firing" then suffers from a weaker beat, as those xylophone vibes are too child instrument like sounding. Eyedea goes for some battle rhymes, what has us still attracted to this track, and has us stick around for the part when Eyedea sys: "show you how my DJ's name is Abilities". The DJ then goes crazy showing his 1200 skills. And there should be more of that on here, as this kid is as lethal behind the decks, as Eyedea is behind the mic. But instead we get a club ready track that's called "Big Shots" next, that finds us hearing 'Dea get gold digger exposing, and about the hunk of the town talking.

Getting back to the philosophic spectrum, "Void (Internal Theory)" is part one to a twosome, the other following later. The piano carries this track, while Eyedea analytically gives us his opinions. "The Dive" is again parted into two units, with Abilities reducing his part of the track, and Eyedea speaking about the thoughts that he turns around in his head. There's a lot of pain or reflections about the darker appearances in one's existence of emotions and feelings in here. Part two then is the conclusion to said findings, with Abilities accompanying the chosen path with another excellent offering. And in a way this moment feels like the album is already coming back full circle. However, there's still more to come.

Like "Well Being", where Abilities finally treats us with a full length scratch tune. And as said: dude is nice! Very nice actually! After this turntablism intermission, "Eyes Of Today" is slowly coming about and staying pretty much where it started, while Eyedea paces in front of you questioning us, provoking us and trying to get us out of our reservations. The musical breaks add an additional feel to the song, only to then return back again. The heavy drum of "Read Wiped In Blue" is only part of why this track is another gem. The beat is not falling prey to mushy melancholy, that the curious and heartfelt lyrics would have easily allowed. Instead the beat is sad, but not without a sparkle of hope. And in a way the same can be said about the words. "Void (External Theory)" then concludes and completes that twin offering, before we are returning to previously pioneered waters with "On This I Stand", that plays the role of 'last track', and it with ease is a splendid song. Oh yeah, not to forget, there's also something hidden following.

Now this album succeeds in giving us a lot and more. While Eyedea stays within his flow and sometimes walks previously paved topical territories, and with not all beats being beyond doubt, this offering still contains so much character, honest emotions and creative forwardness, as well as the desire to say something real, and make something valuable. But those are the cornerstones of a good album. And we are treated to an excellent album, full of contents to be discovered, them turning the spicy ingredients taking a could have been bland meal into this culinary feast.