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Stu Dent. The mysterious member of Deepspace 5.
It's easy to inquire about the identity of Stu Dent, but a more
important line of questioning, in his own words, would be: "What is
he saying?" or "How is he living?" Having recruited twelve different
producers for this album, his second full release, Stu Dent proves
his flow is versatile enough for any beat that's thrown down. The CD
kicks off with a scene from a classic Twilight Zone episode, The
Monsters are Due on Maple Street , that points out the destructive
power of misconceptions and prejudices. Stu Dent picks up and
continues to explain that what we see isn't always what we think it
is. Nephilim: AOG1 is a fairly high-level conceptual disc. The title
itself is quite intriguing. Nephilim, literally translated means,
"fallen ones." The title couples fallen ones with an act of God.
Deep, right? The tracks play off of this theme of fallen man and the
self-destructive nature of our actions. Whether it's putting faith
and trust in the life that we see before us ( Longest Night ,
Splashed Ashore ), or defying ourselves ( Self Pharoah ), or simply
denying the truth ( Empty Inside ), Stu Dent points out common
character flaws in mankind.
So, what is he saying? If one
were to pick one song that summed up the entire album, Equation
would be a fitting choice. Posing the question, "What makes you what
you are, or are not?" The tune kicks off with Stu Dent presenting a
resolve to live a life, focused on the eternal, on the Creator. The
lyrics take shots at faulty theologies and pharisaical fronting. The
words describe the struggle between wanting to follow God and not
wanting to be in a fallen world. As fallen vessels, all our efforts
end up accomplishing our own goals and not God's. See, there's
another side of the Nephilim. They were mighty. They were renown.
Stu Dent provides a glimpse at what could happen if that power was
harnessed and focussed towards meeting the right end result.
Offering 13 solid tracks, well thought out lyrics over tight beats,
Stu Dent's latest release is bent on turning classic.
Suggested
Listening: Deepspace5 - "The Night We Called It a Day",
Stu Dent - "Altered State", Sev Statik - "Speak Life""
Key Tracks:
"Equation", "The longest night", "Invisibullet""
Review Rating: 4.5
out of 5 stars
Reviewer:
the TRu
Used with permission from
www.HipHopForTheSoul.com
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