Dark Leaf
Fuck The People
Ubiquity
So far, there have been two albums this year that have really made me hopeful for hip-hop’s future: Antipop Consortium’s Arrhythmia and this one. Just like the Consortium’s project, LA’s Dark Leaf (who used to be part of Unity Community, which also spawned Jurassic 5) brings a fresh, unique approach to the music that used to be so fresh and unique. Longevity, Jahli, Kemit, Metalogic, and Mixmaster Wolf (who also moonlights with Breakestra) have a super poly-grit sound that is darker than your last day on Earth with Afro-hippie lyrics spat out in hypnotic drones. The effect is mesmerizingly brooding with large doses of foreboding.
“Commercial,” for example, with its explosive beat and ethereal, haunting blues guitar licks sounds like Robert Johnson screaming out at us from the seventh layer of hell. The chopped up mariachi horns on “Spanish Fly” feel like Tijuana after the apocalypse. “Sounds Of Armageddon” also uses mariachi samples to great effect; though, despite the title, the collective “accidentally” came up with a real danceable gem here with an almost Jay Z-ish bounce.
There’s a seeming dearth of good hip-hop out there. But Dark Leaf makes this reviewer feel that not all is lost, and, one day soon, we’ll get our music back. I guess that means I’m fucked.
Ubiquity Records: http://www.ubiquityrecords.com
