The Official DiS Hip-Hop Listening Club

Yeah, they’re not those typical southern/trap rolling snares either that are just too ubiquitous to notice for me now, these actually serve a function and add some extra texture

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Should add that the album cover is 10/10 imo. image/typography/colors all fit the sound
of this to a T. There’s def some underlying tones of voodoo mystic and spirituality on this thing, in message and sound.

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Yeah, I think we may have to do that. Especially if we’re trying to hip each other to stuff that flew under the radar.

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I think he’s a great rapper! Stylistically he may not be your standard emcee, tho. And maybe his lyrics aren’t particularly complex. But he has a great voice and he’s believable. I think the fact that sings his own hooks really adds to his appeal. He’s able to slide in and out of melodies (He really shows this off on Hurtin (another perfect beat)). He can sit behind the beat at times (opening track) but this is a stylistic choice and it adds to the ora.

I think this thread could be good for breaking down the walls we’ve all built in our minds for what is and isn’t a “good rapper”. There’s so much more to rapping than lyrics and staying on beat for me (altho ability in both of those areas is obv important).

This song is good! You’ll come around to it by week’s end :sunny:

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For sure. I didn’t mean to imply he’s not a good rapper, more that his flow doesn’t appeal to me. I can understand why it would appeal - e.g. one of the things I love about Biggie is how he moved off the beat (always reminds me of Frank Sinatra in the way every syllable feels thoughtfully placed).

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Little background on the album title and some of the dungeon fam’s code:

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Everyone itt should watch this btw

Yeah listening to this it suddenly clicked what ATLiens referred to! :sweat_smile:

I want to laugh but I’ve been there before lol

Summary

000

Defs felt like a grower to me. Production is good enough to hook you in though :fishing_pole_and_fish:

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I downloaded this off some dodgy blog a few years ago as part of a concerted effort to explore the dungeon family beyond kast/goodies/mike. unfortunately that effort didn’t extend much further than this, diary of an american witchdoctor and that one cool breeze album, but this became a bit of a low key fave. think it’s difficult to pick out any particular standout tracks, I just enjoy it as one swampy whole.

idk how to articulate it properly but while all the dungeon fam guys have a southern sound, this guy sounds like THE SOUTH, like he really leans into the mythology of it all. like a hip hop fables of the reconstruction or something.

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Listened on the walk/tube to work today in the sun, loud, on my decent headphones. Production sounds so good when the volume is cranked right up.

The 2 tracks I’ve started rewinding when they end are Holiday* and Hurtin’ (a real roller).

(*I’m assuming 12 Scanner is the skit at the end with the police scanner)

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Had a second listen earlier. Works well as something to drift in and out of where I’m getting more from the beats than the rapping. Just a great brooding atmosphere.

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Hard to disagree but that’s a tough group for any rapper to excel in! they’re all so good and unique.

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Popping this on for a Friday night listen - interesting first week choice.

Not heard of it so looking forward to it! Will report back.

This is absolutely fair comment!

faves from first listen- ‘hurtin’’ and ‘smooth shit’.

‘dez only 1’ is strange, that bird call underwater noise really overpowers the rappers for me, a misfire imo, but an interesting one.

the stream has missed this one off the end, different style…

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‘island koneelalee’ has a strong rapper/ beat connection. a standout.

Given this two more burns today and am upgrading my opinion from ‘enjoyable’ to ‘absolutely amazing’. Only slight issue I have with it is that I think the lyrics are slightly half baked. It kind of grated a little at first, but after a couple of listens you start to focus more on his delivery (which is basically perfect) and the sound and atmosphere of the record as a whole. After that, everything falls into place.

And those beats. Jesus. Think they might be the best set Organized Noize ever put together. ‘7th Floor/The Serengetti’ is pretty much the standard issue Organized Noize beat (great though it is), but after this they shoot off in all types of directions, but manage to keep everything grounded in the old mysticism/Southern voodoo theme of the record. It’s a genuinely awesome achievement. Also absolutely love the fact that this is the first record to come out of Organised Noize’s then new deal with Interscope, where Interscope gave them $17m on the assumption they’d churn out a few more ‘Waterfalls’ style hits, and they used the money to make a fifty fathoms deep masterpiece like this instead (while at the same time reportedly throwing some of the most epic parties Atlanta had ever seen!).

Overall, top tier Dungeon Family album and top tier album full stop. Not quite on the level of the best work of Outkast and Goodie Mob (what is though?), but not for off. Should be absolutely mandatory listening for anyone into ATLiens/Aquemini or Soul Food. Reckon it’ll only get better with more listens too, given the amount it’s got going on.

So… first time out the listening thread unearths a genuine lost classic. Looking forward to the next one (no pressure!)

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