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| tracklisting |
| 1. 4th Wall |
| 2. Fool's Proof |
| 3. Ones |
| 4. Angelina |
| 5. Sunday Morning |
| 6. Vinegar Tongue |
| 7. 45 Notches |
| 8. Bill Macy |
| 9. Blue Sunshine |
| 10. Eeyone |
| 11. asphyxia |
| 12. Deep Fried |
| 13. Rockfish |
| 14. All Of Heaven's Angels |
| 15. The Making Of Believe |
| 16. RDB |
| 17. Cause I Said So |
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| If American Idol taught us anything, then: 'however your voice sounds, there's someone out there that will like it.' What is a finding of value when you listen to this record. And it's another way to quote Guru who said: 'it's mostly the voice.' Sankofa has a very distinctive voice.
One you'll be able to point out amongst a million others. That can be good. That can be bad. |
| In a bizarro world, Sankofa is the Joey Lauren Adams of rap. Sure, he's a he and she's a she. But there's still similarities when it comes to their respective completely different voices. Both are in many (and a few of them wacky) reasons cool, they are real and not put on, but they
are also a nail on a blackboard. |
| It therefore might be best to listen to what Sankofa says, rather than how it sounds. Despite the spotless, quick and well twiddled flow Sankofa owns. There is a lot of depth and enough content in his lyrics to spend many an observing and focused listening session with. Because Sankofa
is a stylish rapper with substance. He's a content driven rapper that says a lot of things of the lot of things he has to say. |
| The subject matter bridges the spitting to the speaking. The latter can be found in "RDB", where Sankofa demands of himself that it must be more than a 'typical r.i.p.' He in many ways however does exactly that, but pushes
the boundaries of the concept into open spaces, as he's starting the tale long before, and adds more to the minimum. Over a Kno (of Cunninlynguists) beat he offers a case of first person suffering, with the beat and vibe not dripping from petty. Instead there's the appropriate melancholy, but also a
sense of realism: 'well, people die. We know. It still hurts, but we know.' |
| Another interesting and introspective song, even though on a much less emotional level is "Ones". This explanatory song give us Sankofa describing himself. He runs through a number of artists, explains how they all made
him and through him this music. What's all a nice little twist to a tried topic, adding several braggadocios moments to the verses too. |
| There's an aggressive and commanding undertone to everything Sankofa says. And while that - interestingly enough - works on his sad moments, when he tries to just speak to boogie, you stay intimidated. So a "4th Wall" (with a good Tack Fu beat) sounds less contradicting
than the overall up-paced mood of "Angelina". It works very well on maybe the best song on this record "Sunday Morning". The Ear Max beat is really spacey (even somewhat reminiscent of past - and excellent - songs) and fits
the skill showcasing rhymes perfectly. Here Sankofa really starts to shine, as he's got the appropriate beat to really lay out his patterns, his humor and overall smartaleck persona. |
| More and possibly purer braggadocio is done on "45 Notches" which demands strong neck muscles. Before on "asphyxia" the poet demands the limelight, even though
the unAuthordox beat sounds very in the middle of darkness. Again it's his persona that wins our attention over, because here and on "All Of Heaven's Angels", he has something to say. Sure, maybe he has even too much to say. Certainly too much for the casual listener, but not quite
enough for the starving for clever rhetoric listener. For those, songs like "The Making Of Believe" are a serious treat. |
| And on the last song mentioned, the voice isn't that rough anymore. On the song and in our ears. That's maybe due to the excessive diet of hours listened to this record. At the same time it's the right moment to insist that the voice can not be reason enough to not listen to this
record. It can not be the reason to listen to this record either though. But you don't need the voice as a reason why to listen to "The Rosetta Stone" - the strong lyrical content and the many good beats are plenty already. It might be 'mostly' the voice. But it's never 'only' the voice. |
| review: tadah |
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