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I have always been a (Knowda)Verbs fan. He has
always had drive and desire to move a crowd and make a good record.
Unfortunately, his projects usually follow soon after a GRITS
project and seem like he gets the leftovers from his crews'
production team. Sort of a, “well, Bone and Coff didn't use this
one…you can have it, I guess” type thing. Not this time, mostly.
From play you hear he's shooting for the moon on this one. “Live to
the Music” sounds like it was yanked straight from a Roc-a-fella
compilation. HOTNESS! Verbs spits lovely on this track. From what
I'm seeing, it's also Gotee's next single for my man. The first
single we saw from Verbs was, “What you rock now?” also featured on
“We Are Hip Hop(e)” This song features a laid-back sing songy
chorus, laced with a nice hip-pop beat. I respect how my man is
keeping it current. That's how you reel peeps in with the message,
and ultimately-how you sell records. Some of the other tracks I was
feelin' was “Trippin”. This track has a nice 70's blaxploitation
movie theme style to it as far as the strings/keyboard on it go.
Verbs has stepped up his flow, flipping it double-time on this jawn.
Very impressive. Another one that caught my ears was, “Can You Hear
Me?” yet another song that doesn't compromise the gospel message,
but also is made to catch the ears of the unsaved with excellence in
production. One in particular that stood out to me was, “My
Neighborhood”. The beat is pretty original- kind of the “Gotee
approach to neo-soul” The hook is done by Bonafied of GRITS who
redeems himself from the less-than-lackluster verse he spit on
“Pre-paid”. The outro is pretty nice too. The ones I didn't like
were “Feelin' the Interlude” “She Ms. Sin” and “Run with it”. All in
all, Unlocked is a very nice album. Definitely worth the money you
spend. Verbs is destined for great things in this Industry. I pray
others feel the same way.
Suggested
Listening: Propaganda, Enock, Mark J
Key Tracks:
"Trippin", “Can You Hear Me?”, “My Neighborhood”
Review Rating:
3.5 stars out of 5
Reviewer:
Salvatore Marranzano
Used with permission from
www.HipHopForTheSoul.com
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