This is a new series on i Am Classic Hip Hop brought to you by the blog team. We will review the hottest mixtapes, albums, EPs, LPs, projects or whatever you crazy kids call your stuff to decipher why it is the hottest release of the week. This week Boog Avery selected Sy Ari Da Kid for his latest project S.O.O.N. You can find it by clicking here. Enjoy the review below and let us know what you think of our selection!
Starting off the mixtape stirring some sort of controversial pot with the line “R.I.P to Eric Garner, got the game in the chokehold” and if that isn’t an emcee making “Something Out Of Nothing,” then maybe I’m always tripping on hiphop like a foil crown-rocking trailer resident in the woods.
Sy Ari Da Kid was once featured last year in I Am Indie Hip Hop Wednesdays where Ke Turner applauded him for having the ability to be versatile, a rarity in this industry nowadays. Most people like controlling a very distinctive path to create a name for themselves. Sy Ari has a career that consists of a path of many directions, and <i>S.O.O.N.</i> feels a lot like he’s drawing out his map for his new audience.
While I am a sucker for a rapper that can do it all – harmonize, spit consciously, create hooks and have fun – this mixtape is rather lopsided in showcasing Da Kid’s total package. Where it lacks in his ability to spit over a traditional hiphop beat, it overloads on melodic stripper music. Listeners can manage to appreciate his love songs “Stability” and “TLC” with his witty lyricism and puns over the nostalgic 90s R&B vibe in each song. <i>S.O.O.N.</i> makes me anxious for a more aggressive take in his next project instead of fully appreciating the body of work that’s out now.
His moments of aggression, his overall strongest suit as an emcee, come at the beginning tracks of <i>S.O.O.N.</i>, pops us in “The Real Nawfside” and ends at the mega posse cut “Say Word” for a few bars. Da Kid comes out swinging with such strong lines in the intro (see the top) and in “Lit” (I’m an MC with a hammer – too legit to quit) what was to follow felt settling, especially when D Kid has a strong battle background.
While I understand the many demands of a hiphop consumer according to today’s industry, I still believe the people want to see a body of work that fully reflects the artistic path our emcees take. Listeners will find songs on <i>S.O.O.N.</i> they really, really like and immediately skip the rest. I look forward to more from Sy Ari Da Kid this year, but I demand these questions be answered first!!!
Five Questions for Sy Ari Da Kid’s <i>S.O.O.N.</i>:
1. “Popular” has been on several different Sy Ari Da Kid projects. Why is it on here?
2. Who all was on the last track, and are they really cool with being a collective “26 artists?”
3. Where’s the boom-bap???
4. How do you manage all of these DJ ties to where you can have all of them on one project?
5. What happened in Meriwether County that has you warning journalists in “The Real Nawfside” to watch our back out there?
– Boog Avery
Your chief source for all things classic! 