A Pipe Dream and a Promise

by Finale

This is Finale's first solo album, and it is a bit of a mixed bag. There are plenty of fine producers here, representing the D and from elsewhere, but some of the tracks don't quite live up to the promise mentioned in the title.

Invincible and Finale work well together, as seen on their other releases, and that continues to hold true for 'The Waiting Game'. Waajeed supplies the beat for 'The Senator', which loops Senator Clay Davis on The Wire saying his trademark "Sheeeeeeeeeeiiiiit" and makes me laugh every time I hear it.

Dilla provides some 'Heat', but it's clearly a B-list beat from the master. Other notable producers include Kev Brown, Khrysis, Black Milk (of course), Nottz, Ta'Raach, Oddisee, and various Lab Technicians. It is a consistent-sounding album, it's just that a few of the tracks are boring. Finale is great when he's spitting truth, but when he attempts some more radio-friendly tracks, the energy sort of dies out.

The stand-out track to me is the last one 'Paid Homage (RIP J. Dilla)'. In it, Flying Lotus remixes 'Fall in Love', and Finale rhymes about the influence Dilla has had on him and his music. It's a touching song, and a lovely way to round out the album.

Abundance

by PPP

On the back cover, PPP claim that they have "reclaimed the music of their city", and that "the golden Motown era sounds that their parents played while they were growing up have been given a thorough and respectful re-rub for a new century and a new generation of listeners." As a mission statement, that is a very ambitious one, but one that I feel the band has largely been able to pull off.

Waajeed and Saadiq come at this album with a very consistent sound, and it is one steeped in Motown, but with a more modern (ie., post-Dilla) sensibility to it. The drums on these songs are incredible. Coultrain and Karma Stewart are strong vocalists.

I find that many of the songs on this album blur for me, partly due to the expert mixing, and also due to the fact that they don't seem, as individual parts, to be as memorable as they are as a whole piece. That's fine with me - I like listening to full albums, but at the same time, I don't expect many of these tracks to make their way onto my ipod. The exception to that is 'The Ghost of Aveiro', a South American influenced number that always seems to stick in my head after listening to this disk.

Shapeshifters

Invincible

I first started noticing Invincible on some of Waajeed's Bling47 projects - Platinum Pied Pipers, and various mixtapes. She also had the nicest verse on Finale and Spier 1200's album, so when her solo album dropped, I figured it was worth a risk.

Am I ever glad I bought this. This talented MC is exactly what hip-hop needs now. Her songs are about real, important issues, and she is unflinching in her portrayal of life in post-urban Detroit and it's satellites. Her perspective as a Palestinian who came to the US to experience the American dream is unique, and something that more people should be aware of.

She's assembled an impressive group of guests - mostly from the Detroit area - including Wordsworth, Buff1, Finale, and Tiombe Lockhart. The beats are provided by the Lab Techs, Black Milk, House Shoes, and of course, Waajeed. The album has a consistent head-nod feel to it, and stands up to repeated listens.

My favorite tracks:
People Not Places - a hymn to the lost lands of Palestine
Spacious Skies - a hymn to the lost dream of America
Deuce/Ypsi - a song that reveals the realities of the suburbs of Detroit
Ropes - a mournful reflection on suicide
In the Mourning - it's become de rigueur to have a Dilla and Proof tribute track if you're from the D, but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing
Locusts - a song about the death of Detroit.

One other reason to recommend this album is that Invincible practices what she preaches. Her label (Emergence Media) is 'fair-trade', and the packaging the disc comes in is environmentally-friendly.

I hope this girl is the future of hip-hop.