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When I was contacted by email last week by hip hop artist, SumKid, he made a very astute observation. He said, "Just at first blush, it looks like you guys might be primarily into Alt. Rock, but I get the feeling you're genuine lovers of good music...and I think I have some of that." Well, Sum's feeling is right. We are genuine lovers of good music here at Audio Overflow. Whether he "has some of that" or not, I'll leave up to you to decide. Here are my thoughts:
SumKid
Songs
Sum's myspace page has several songs, and samples of songs for you to check out. The very first one on the playlist is named, "Chuck Norris On Drugs." (My undying love of Chuck Norris "facts" compels me to mention that Chuck Norris is literally on top of drugs...his boot that is.) Sum does a sort of back and forth on the track, calling out and then answering himself. It's hard to explain. The lyrics are a little silly to be completely honest. A lot of them just seem like random statements like "I chop off my legs so I can kick you with the nubs."
"Pretty Girls With Flyers" is much cooler, with a cool, hip groove accompanying Sum's deep seductive vocals. His rapping sounds a lot more like talking, sort of in an "A Witch's Invitation" kind of way (very few people will get that reference). It's a short song, but very effective. The refrain of "Pretty girls with flyers, man they get away with murder" is really driven home, and - well - I agree. "King Kong In A Suit" has a really cool beat and features some of Sum's more explicit vocals. I definitely like the line, "What Kanye's doing, I did in '03," and the whole feel of the song. It definitely reminds me of some older Outkast tunes, which is a huge complement in my book. It's also the first lyrically impressive song that I've yet to hear, which is also nice.
"Paranoid" is easily the best, most "real" track on the page. Sum goes over a bunch of subjects here: his upbringing, people he doesn't trust, his inner turmoil ("When will I find my peace?"), and it all works. It never feels like he's trying to do too much, which is really surprising. "Devil Shoes" has an unbearably hip beat, complete with organs and jazz flutes. At this point I'm highly impressed with the amount of pop culture references that Sum is able to cram into every song. From Chuck Norris to Theo Huxtable, Marlon Brando or the Ninja Turtles, everything is fair game and makes for a very entertaining and interesting listen. This is a pretty catchy track ("Boom Boom. Click Clack. Least he coulda done is wipe his shoes on the mat."). "September" is Sum's most mainstream-sounding song. The easy-going beat gets mixed up a bit in the chorus, and I found it to be pretty effective. Again, really cool lyrics.
Conclusion
"Pretty Girls With Flyers" is much cooler, with a cool, hip groove accompanying Sum's deep seductive vocals. His rapping sounds a lot more like talking, sort of in an "A Witch's Invitation" kind of way (very few people will get that reference). It's a short song, but very effective. The refrain of "Pretty girls with flyers, man they get away with murder" is really driven home, and - well - I agree. "King Kong In A Suit" has a really cool beat and features some of Sum's more explicit vocals. I definitely like the line, "What Kanye's doing, I did in '03," and the whole feel of the song. It definitely reminds me of some older Outkast tunes, which is a huge complement in my book. It's also the first lyrically impressive song that I've yet to hear, which is also nice.
"Paranoid" is easily the best, most "real" track on the page. Sum goes over a bunch of subjects here: his upbringing, people he doesn't trust, his inner turmoil ("When will I find my peace?"), and it all works. It never feels like he's trying to do too much, which is really surprising. "Devil Shoes" has an unbearably hip beat, complete with organs and jazz flutes. At this point I'm highly impressed with the amount of pop culture references that Sum is able to cram into every song. From Chuck Norris to Theo Huxtable, Marlon Brando or the Ninja Turtles, everything is fair game and makes for a very entertaining and interesting listen. This is a pretty catchy track ("Boom Boom. Click Clack. Least he coulda done is wipe his shoes on the mat."). "September" is Sum's most mainstream-sounding song. The easy-going beat gets mixed up a bit in the chorus, and I found it to be pretty effective. Again, really cool lyrics.
ConclusionMy apologies to Sum. Though I do enjoy some hip hop, the artists that I actually like are few and far between. My lack of in-depth knowledge of the genre definitely has a lot to do with my lackluster write-up of his music. The bottom line is that I think Sum is a pretty talented MC. His rhymes are inventive and different in a genre that is too often populated by the complete opposite. There are a few missteps to be found on his myspace page, but for the most part I'm fairly impressed with what I've heard. I highly recommend that you check it out, especially the tracks "September" and "Paranoid."
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1 comment:
I like the silly lyrics, which I usually find a turn off. But they work for him. "Paranoid" is great...I'm really like "Devil Shoes" though.
Thanks for sharing.
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