Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
When you ask the question - "Who's the front runner for Hip-Hop in Baltimore?" the response most often heard is "It's Ogun!!!" Ogun, a Baltimore native, has been a major force in Baltimore Hip-Hop. Here's a review of his album "Real On Purpose".
These tracks are really hard, rugged and dirty but yet not dirty to the point where the tracks takes a hit. The sounds are well composed over rap that really could tear your head off. The style of the rap I can best explain as a hard and raw style in the same category as M.O.P but at the same time with layers of subtleties to it. It's not that hardcore rap all the way. There are also some more subtle
tracks on here that for me is nice because I don't want hear that hardcore screaming rhymes all the way. It makes it more versatile and makes it more interesting. At some parts it feels a little too much in the vocal range. It feels like there are a bit to many voices coming in and filling in the words but all in all this is a very nice album that weighs evenly on the scale between beats and rap. The beats are well varied but at the same time they hold consistency to each other which is really important to get that "red thread" feeling through the album. The beats has a really dark and hard vibe that joins perfectly with the hard and raw rhymes. I feel that the mix is nice and well formulated when it comes to the beats but the vocals are a bit high in volume. They stick a bit too much into the front of the soundscape. They could, and in my opinion should have been taken back a notch, especially in this raw and hardcore rap it gets a bit like being punched in the face with the rap when the volume is a bit too high.
As I travel through the soundscape of this album I find that it is overall well put together but there is a small problem; mainly the lows: The bottom spectrum is a bit too skinny. The bass is a bit like those live bass sounds from some 70's tracks. They are too apparent and skinny. Some better and bigger bottom to the soundscape could have been a real benefit because the range of the soundscape should have been bigger and deeper. Now it's mostly highs and middles with a little taste of lows. Another problem with this album is the problem of separating from tracks that shouldn't have been put on the album. The album is too long. 18 tracks spanning 1 hour 11 minutes is way too long. Talk to any music manager in the world and he will tell you this is a big no no. This is a problem that is way spread over the world of Hip Hop but when you pick up a pop album you won't find one more then 40 minutes tops, and this is to keep it fresh, to not murder the mind with too much information.
Music is all about selling the first impression, and this is too much. So if this track had been 4 or 5 tracks skinnier it would have been iller in my opinion, more compressed and easier to "sell". It's always a hard thing to separate from work you have invested much in but some times it's for the best. And the bigger picture will gain from you doing it. My grade on this would be a solid 3. This is nice and well formulated but not without some issues.
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