An MC/Producer duo is certainly nothing new to hip hop; it once was more common for such a pair to hook up and choose a name together, rather than simply working under the banner of the MC’s name. Think Boogie Down Productions, Gang Starr, and so on.
Today, such a collaboration is rare. Aside from Reflection Eternal, how many major acts can you think of are working under such a banner today? Rarer still is a duo in which both do both. Cymarshall Law and Skit Slam form such an entity as Everliven Sound. Freedom 2 is their second record together, a sequel to – you guessed it – Freedom. While they may not have spent hours agonizing over a title, the music does not bore.
While the underground has always been present in rap, during the shift of mainstream rap, it’s increasingly taken the position of consciously standing in opposition to popular hip hop. Underground rappers have, by and large, filed into three main categories: guys trying things that the mainstream wouldn’t allow for (P.O.S., would I be out of line to say WHY? as well?), people with angry political vendettas (Jedi Mind Tricks, Immortal Technique), and rappers clinging to “true” rap, refusing to expand into whatever rap is today. These two MCs certainly fall into the latter category.
There are beats one can imagine Talib and Mos flowing over, KRS vocals sampled are amply sampled, and there’s a pretty fair amount of bemoaning the state of hip hop. I’d probably get along with these two. It may sound relatively typical for underground rap, but understand: they do it very damn well. With 18 tracks there’s quite a bit there, but it never grows tiresome. “Elements,” for example, boasts a perfect upbeat piano loop, and the pair doesn’t have to do much of anything – they just get to flowing. Much like a classic rap album, the disc largely shifts between conscious/state of rap songs and brag tracks. However, the MCs seem aware that their flavor of hip hop may never sell.
On “Walk Away” the chorus goes, “Sometimes I feel like I just wanna walk away/ and I’ve said what I want to say.” Yet, also present are modern punch lines such as, “These dudes can’t rip it like Cy can/ they might as well say ‘Phuket’ like that city in Thailand.” They do Drake better than he does. Production provided by Swedish duo The Beatnikz is largely fantastic; take “Ms. Liquor Spliff” or “Come Correct,” which feature vibes beyond those offered by many high paid producers these days. The album boasts a wide selection of great tracks, from “Don’t Believe,” which challenges the listener to accept nothing at face value, including their own claims, “Credit Crunch,” which offers up another superb beat complete with strings and whistling, to “Know No,” the album’s closer, on which they display their refusal to change to fit in with popular rap. Yet, on that track, and throughout the album the rappers remain positive, which offers up one of the album’s strengths. They’re rarely bitter, and instead drop lines such as, “Whether you say you can or can’t you are right” and “If I’m not good enough I’m gonna get better.” It’s the optimist’s rap record.
Back on “Walk Away,” the MCs work to convince “real” rappers to keep trying – the way they see it, rap is getting so “corny” that if they don’t, it really will die. I’m nearly inclined to agree. On “Follow My Lead,” the pair make their desire clear: “Who’s next up?/ you better select us/ all we want is a fair chance – respect, love.” If mainstream taste still allowed for MCs to succeed simply from skill, these guys would be set. We all know it doesn’t. So, at the very least, you can seek out this record and kick your feet up for a shot of real rap.
