DARK MATTER LP- My First Album(PC0 REVIEW INSIDE)

[Redrapper]

ok... now over the past year I've been writing, recording, working on a lot of songs. Over spring break, I had some time to get quite a few things done within them... so finally Im anouncing it.

In 2 WEEKS... I will be releasing my Very own LP album... called DARK MATTER.

www.soundclick.com/darkmatterlp.htm

22 songs.

Now I know a lot of you hate rap... but one of the points of this album is to appeal to people who like rap as well as people who arent into it as much.

contained at that link I just posted are a few songs I've writtin that I've released as singles and such.

NOTICE ME and WHAT'S NEXT are the ones you guys will probably like out of those. Those are a couple deep songs... the others you can listen too... its up to you. But most of the songs on the album are deep and such.

now, I'm selling it. Yeah, I know, the second money comes into the picture, a lot of people tune out... but its really really really cheap. 5 bucks. 22 songs, proffessionaly recorded... 5 bucks.

Now, to sort of drive my point home... I sent the album to PC0, to have him review it and such... and he wrote up a review for me.

So Dark Matter is dropping in two weeks... here's the review from PC0 =)

[PC0]

Just as RR said, I heard the album, it blew me away and I wrote a review. Check Check It!



Yesterday, an old online friend of mine, Red Rapper, sent me a copy of his not-quite-finished album. Today, I decided to take a peak an listen. Now, I had heard much of RR's earlier stuff, most of it was fairly good, similar to Eminem in terms of how it sounded, but still, pretty good. However, when I opened up and started listening to this album, I was blown away. I couldn't believe my ears. This was Redrapper? The same kid on SFGHQ, who's been around for years, popping up with a new song here, a fangame there, a couple witty posts where appropriate, THIS was him? The beats that blasted my ear drums knocked me down and wouldn't let me get back up, I couldn't believe that a 16 year old (I think he's 16 now) could make shit THIS good.


I'm not kidding, I've listened to a decent amount of rap in my day, NWA, Eminem, Puff Daddy, Snoop Dog, 2Pac, Slick Rick and more, some I liked, some I didn't, yet these fantastic beats and rhymes coming straight out of RR's home town of Irvine, California was blowing even some of these giants out of the water . Now, I've always enjoyed a variety of music, be it techno, rock, jpop, jrock, blues, jazz, rap, whatever, I just like music, but I don't think I've ever come across someone this young with this kind of talent.


So anyway, here I am, one lazy wednesday night, unzipping the album preview and hoping for something to break my string of boredom. Inside I found a collection of 18 tracks and a text file listing the trackorder. Following how the CD was originally intended, I started off with the first track, a skit introduction to the CD, titled "Welcome Note". This skit immediately drew me into the album, simply because it was so damn halarious. It immediately perked my intrest with an entertaining bit featuring a translator, speaking what RR was 'truly thinking' as he gave his introduction speech. Overall, the introductory skit was not only excellently produced, well-written and amusing, but it's Aqua Teen Hunger Force-esque comedic style all added up into an excellent intro for the album. Already impressed, I moved on to the first song, not knowing that I'd only scratched the surface of an amazing peice of art.



Before I go on, I'd like to make a general statement that applies to the album's tracks as a whole. I feel that there's something that vitally needs to addressed, namely, the lyrics. 80-90% of today's rap artists lack the ability to write meaningful lyrics, straying so far from the original, 'true' rap, like N.W.A. and Slick Rick, it's almost painful to hear/see. Today's mainstream rappers do nothing but go on about how many bitches and hoes they've slapped, how much chronic they smoked and how much they enjoy "bustin' a cap in yo' ass". It's the same fucking songs, over and over. The only thing that changes is the background music and even that generally follows the same pattern. What happened to the days when rap music was about stories of pain and hardship? Whatever happened to tales of rising up from the ghetto, only to be pushed back down by the evils of society? For quite sometime, I thought the 'soul' of rap was dead; But I feel that way no longer, Red Rapper's lyrics are a breath of fresh air in a factory smoke stack of music mass production, his songs are filled with meaning and thought, rather than just writing the same old cliché shit you hear time and again, RR gives you a feeling of expression and emotion that you simply can NOT find anymore. That being said, let's proceed to the individual songs themselves....


The musical assortment of "Dark Matter" begins with an angry, rebellious track named, "My CD". This song has a "Fuck the World" sort of flavor to it, yet manages to deliver it without over imposing it's message, giving the listener a sense of discontent and rebellion, without being overly cliché. Over seasoning with angst and rage is a common mistake found in many similar songs, yet "My CD" manages to find an excellent balance between style and substance. The songs strongly delivered support of free speech and freedom, combined with an excellently fitting, dramatic background and the emotion of RedRapper himself, make this song a tasty delight to sample indeed, while sharp and spicy in flavor, the song is definetly gourmet at it's finest. An excellent appetizer that serves it's purpose well, setting the stage to lead up to the main course with the utmost precision. Over all an excellent piece, but the best is yet to come.


Remember those scenes in horror movies where it's all quiet and then something bursts through the wall and rips the main character's head off, those ones that happen so suddenly that they make you jump? That's the sort of feeling I got after listening to "The Game Is On", the second song to grace "Dark Matter". I was pleasently surprised when I heard the harsh, politically influenced lyrics that fill the song and lend a monsterous impact to the song's meaning. Lyrics like, "Im the only good shit to come out of a bush era, And If cheney thinks Im screwin' the world better, I hope he gets his heart attack, become even more deader" open a vein of political outrage that bleeds truth and intensity. This song's message immediately digs it's claws into you and dosen't let go, clearly carving the artist's feelings right into your heart, the lyrics so uncompromisingly hardcore that even the most dense of individuals could immediately recognize what RR is trying to say. A horrifically awesome track with a terrifyingly extreme political message. Excellent work indeed.

[PC0]

Continued:

Anger, rage, discontent with your parents and family, we all experience this in our lives and RR is no exception. The fouth track on the CD, named "Bushido", after the Samurai code of honor is fascinating indeed. The song keeps a steady pace, filled with rage and emotion, while it is not the best song on the album, it's still a solid piece, with RR delivering how he truly feels without holding back. Damn good song with damn good lyrics.


The fifth track, Dead And Stinking was a minor let down for me, personally. I like the song, but I honestly don't think it's as good as the other tracks found on the album. While the message of the song is awesome, determinedly reenforcing the concept of racial unity, the rhymes just flow quite as well as the other songs. Where as most of the material found on Dark Matter would get an A grade, "Dead and Stinking" only slides by with a mediocre C+. Decent, but nothing special.


While "Dead and Stinking" may of left a dead silence of discontent, "Battleground", the sixth track on the album rang out with a shot of badassness that rivals the force of a nuclear bomb. The lyrics, a satirical criticisim of humanity's nature to make war, leaves the listener dumbfounded, leaving behind an atmosphere of depression and outrage at the state of the world today. Rhymes like "Kills a kill, paki asian black or white, Just fire your gun at anybody, dead on sight," have an explosive impact on the psyché of whomever pays attention to the lyrics, delivering a message that unmistakably condemns the horrid behavior exhibited by humanity. An awesome piece and then some. Now THIS is art.


Without a doubt, the best thing about RR's music is the moving lyrics. Another political bombshell is delivered with "What If?", a song featuring lyrics of the absolutely excellent calibur. Hardcore phrases like, "And we bombed Medical schools, and hospitals, tryin' to find hussein, so we bombed some capitols, Killin full loads, of innocent citizens tho, and after all that Hussein was hidin in a fuckin spider hole," and "This whole song, is meant to adress the people, About how the world has to stop this evil, Thats the only reason I want you to listen to me, What if... all the world could just live in peace... what if..." hit the listener where it hurts, with a swift kick to the political nuts, RR busts out some phat rhymes that deliver a shining middle finger to the Bush Administration without any remorse. Simply put, this song is bad ass.


Opening up with a piano loop, "Dark Matter", the namesake song of the album is without a doubt, increadible. While not fast paced like other songs found on the album, "Dark Matter" displays the pain and sorrow of life itself, the outpouring of emotions and feelings make this song one of the best I've heard in a long time. Refering to the collective problems of life as "Dark Matter" creates a fascinating allusion of sorrow that is difficult to match. An absolutely increadible piece, I cannot begin to describe the degree of depth in this song, you'll have to hear it for yourself. A++ material.


"Notice Me" is most certainly the complimentary 'sister' song to "Dark Matter", while a bit more angry and enraged, "Notice Me" is on the same level of quality as "Dark Matter". A must listen, no matter how you slice it. The message of this song has a shocking impact, lyrics like "We ain;t a nation, we ain;t all indivisible, if it's true, Why am I treated like I;m invisible" make a mockery out of that joke we call a government. A powerful, emotional song of the utmost quality. If you have the option to listen to only one song on "Dark Matter", this is it.


"The Revival", track number eleven, is an upbeat song about coming back from rock bottom and rising to the occassion. Emotionally charged with a fury that rivals the rage of a pissed off polar bear, "The Revival" slaps you in the face with a "Herrreeee'sss JOHNNY!" (The Shining) kind of attitude. Good stuff, but not as good as "Dark Matter" or "Notice Me".


The last song track I'm going to review, because I'm a lazy fuck and also, because I don't want to give away the ENTIRE album, is "The Sultan". The background is an arabic-esque beat, which complements the lyrics excellently. I love the track, the lyrics' middle eastern undertone gives the song a tone and feel that seperate it from any other rap song currently found on the market. While certainly not an othodox rap song, it's still an excellent peice and an awesome addition to the Dark Matter album. Recommended.


Quite possibly the best part of the album however, is track thirteen. "Vader and The Darkside" is quite possibly, the funniest shit I've ever heard. It is essentially comprised of Darth Vader, really pissed, calling up Zaid and bitching about him using the term "Darkside" as a nickname. After raging and ranting, complete with legal threats and more, Vader ends the phone call with a comment about some most excellent cookies. If you don't like rap, it's worth getting the album just to hear this skit.



The final skit on the album, track 17 (16? I dunno, track list is kinda weird at this point), known as "Tootsie Pops" is almost as funny as Vader, an increadibly funny parody of of the old "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop" commecials, where the 'biting' aspect is not looked upon nicely by Zaid. XD


In conclusion, "Dark Matter" is an excellent piece and outright amazing considering that, not only is it RR's first album, but he's only a mere 16 years of age. Despite these handicaps however, RR's album still manages to compete with even the super star rappers of today. If you like rap, hell, even if you DON'T like rap, give this album a look, it's more than worth it. If you still don't like the music after giving a shot, you'll still get plenty of enjoyment from the awesome skits found among the collection of tracks. In conclusion, Zaid AKA Darkside AKA Red Rapper, has produced a top notch piece that comes HIGHLY recommended.

[Ed]

What will the album design look like?

[Admin]

Well, I checked out all 4 full tracks that are there... man, I'm impressed. You've whpped up something truly professional and awesome sounding.
I think I'll be wanting to pick this up, yeah. =D

Too bad I got no means of paying for stuff over the net... Any chance I can just send you over $10 or so in an envelope (5 bucks oughtta cover the shipping to the NL, right?) with a note where to send back the CD to?

[OgtraX]

First I must make a statement: I don't like rap!
I used to listen to it before. But It has totally lost it's meaning over the last years. So now I don't like the ones I used to like anymore. XD

But this was just amazing. A huge talent. Someone who isn't all "bling bling shoot you, yo". One with a great expression of words. The type that symbolises the good rap. True feelings expressed excellent with a beat.

Keep it up. You are the best rapper I have heard. I can actually enjoy listening to your rhymes even though I'm not a rap fan. It's really great!!

[dead]

I like that one halo rap song from a while ago.....but that's it. :E

[SilverFlame]

BATHDARDTH.

Don't lisp when rapping.

[Admin]

*listens again*

....
*snerk* You're right XD

[Admin]

Figured this warranted a bump.

Now, I haven't bothered with the "preview" files yet, so I'm going by the 4 "full" tracks, alone.
Anyway, for a litle bit of constructive criticism - I know that the "Echo yourself" effect, making it seem like you're two people at once, is a nifty thing to use and abuse. But it might be a bit overdone if you do it in every track.
Now again, I dunno if the other tracks do it and I just coincidentally happen to be listening to the four that do use it, but yeah.

Now, shortly reviewing the 4 tracks - Bad Bad West, Notice Me, What's Next and Underestimate...

Bad Bad West
Aside from the possible Will Smith lawsuit just by looking at the title, BBW DOES manage to distinguish itself enough to not sound too much like WWW.
With a catchy background track, clever lyrics and smooth pace, this might just be my favorite track out of the 4, even.
And as for you being a Muslim rapper - heck, being a Dutch guy, it hardly comes as a surprise to me.
More prominent Dutch rappers such as Ali B. and Raymzter happen to have their heritage in Morocco.

Notice Me
Despite the somewhat angsty overtone this may awaken to some, this is quite a powerful track.
Solid in lyrics and sound. Don't have much else to say about it, besides, PC0 covered it well enough.

(I'll probably write something about the other two tracks later, as I'm gonna have to shut down for a while.)

[Domokun Clasico]

Dutch rappers from Morroco? Wtf?

As a fellow muslim, I must give your jams a try.

[Admin]

Y'know, it's been two weeks already, and you only posted that one post - unless you figure that this CD sells itself, you're not doing a very good job endorsing it. ;P

[Redrapper]

SORRY about not bein here... had some work to attend to and finals


1) yes you may mail me the money. just make it around 7 bucks(2 for shipping.)
2) Only a few tracks have the lisp... otherwise I made sure they worked out well.

SO yeah... I need to record about 2 more tracks and I'm done...

if anybody would like to help me, I would like to get a website running and such to help endorse it... your call though.

Sorry about not being here enough guys, I've been working a lot on battles and such(in a tournament).

But thanx for the comments. Since its summer... CD should be finished by 30th... and ready to ship following week.

thanks for your comments H. hit me up on AIM when you get the chance:
IIREDRAPPERII

[Toxic]

Hey RedRapper. I'm curious, would you be willing to possibly offer me the vocal track of one of your tunes. I feel experimental....

[Redrapper]

^^ Sure =P

[PC0]

silverflame said:

BATHDARDTH.

Don't lisp when rapping.

Better an almost non-existant, almost completely unnoticable lisp than the "I SHOOT YO MOM IF THE FACE! I BREAK YO HEAD WITH A VASE, STAB YOU AND GIVE CHASE! GANGSTA THIS, GANGSTA THAT, BEING A THUG RAT!" crap you see in most rap today. RR's stuff is much more reminescent of the a blend of the original east coast and west coast raps from the 80s, AKA the rap that dosen't suck. So....yeah, that's about it XD

[Redrapper]

^^ thanx for the comment PC0 =P

anyway, I'll be uploading a cover prolly tonight for you all to look at.

[Seph]

Haha, The Bad Bad West is pretty nice. This is coming from a dude who doesn't like rap, too.

Being someone who can pick up off-key notes, the 'BAD BAD' echo part seems a little off to me, but otherwise I have no qualms whatsoever. Really good job, and I may even scrape something together to buy this if I can.

[PC0]

Also, I will be playing RR's album on a SAGECast at SAGE, so keep any eye out for a preview of the whole thing

[Chris]

I must say, this is quite good.
It's remminiscant of Eminem's "Marshal Mathers LP"spelling) but a little more angsty, with very clever and identifiable lyrics.

Though I must agree with the lisp thing, and the echo effects comments. Overall I liked it, and will porbably buy it. it's good that you're presenting your own stuff to the world. I couldn't do that with my music, so I gotta give you props.

Nicely done.