cletta1201's Full Review: Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom [PA] by Mystic
In a music genre so saturated with designer clothing and bling-bling mentality - Mystic should have been a breath of fresh air amidst stagnancy. Instead her debut album, Cuts For Luck And Scars For Freedom fell surprisingly flat. At first listen, I really disliked this album and was angry at Madtheory for recommending it. After a few more listens, I picked up some things that I definitely liked and realized that my bias towards the album probably came from my predilection for east coast music. Mystic hails from the land of sun, California and her album is nothing short of “west coast”, I hate to break it down to east vs. west but this album really does have a west coast feel to it.
You can tell that Mystic is one of those woman whose heart lies in poetry. You could easily picture her at some poetry slam, reading her finest and cooling it. Although her poetry is sharp, you can tell that she is a music lover, it does reflect throughout the album.
One of my least favorite songs on the entire album is Ghetto Birds but I listen to it for a subtle diss to Lil’ Kim who is the antithesis to everything that Mystic’s album is about. On this track Mystic laments about women who sell themselves out for what they believe to be the finer things in life. The message is definitely there, but musically and delivery wise – I don’t vibe this one much at all.
Neptune’s Jewels might be the best song on the album. A love song in its own right – this one really showcases Mystic’s vocals. I really wished that some of the other tracks showed off the same type of talent. Mystic + Singing = Good. Mystic professes a love so deep for someone that you just have to respect where she’s coming from: ”When I met you boy you were the sweetest thing/ Like a Sade tape in the coldest spring”
The Life was the debut single from the album, and it did stir up some media for Mystic, although I do think it was a bad choice for a lead single. Throughout this whole song Mystic sings more than anything, so consumers like me were confused as to if she was a singer or a rapper. What’s funny is that she definitely could have been a straight up and down R&B singer if her heart desired but instead she fused her unique style with rap and called it an album.
I think whoever pushed this album might have thought this would have been a good pick for a single because it shows Mystic both singing AND rapping, but for me – I wasn’t real sure, so I waited for a long time to pick up the album. It does need to be said that I don’t think she’s a terrible femcee, she has a really interesting voice and a nice delivery, but she could use some refinement. Sometimes like on Once A Week, it sounds like she’s “rapping” because they couldn’t put her words to music on the beat and it really doesn’t do her any justice at all.
The thing that makes this album not so good is that there aren’t really any in-betweens. Either the songs are good (really good) or bad (filler). Being that there are 18 tracks on the album – there’s plenty to pick and choose from, and as far as length – it qualifies as a Hip-Hop album. Mystic is coming from the same camp as the completely underrated Bahamadia and one of the standouts on the album is production EXCEPT on the song D Boy. I can only assume that the “D” stands for drug and the production on this album is so hard, so fast and so inappropriate to what she’s saying – the whole song just sounds like a loud, garbled mess.
You Say, I Say is Mystic at her best. Singing and being brutally honest (as she is throughout the whole album), here she cries out to those in the “game” to understand and to love. Even though it leans to the side of stereotyping – it’s just so candid you can respect her for it. Also, I can visually imagine this song coming to fruition and you know that this is her reality, which makes it even better. Behind “Neptune’s Jewels”, this is my favorite song on the album – excellently produced, lots of singing; this song is on par.
In true black-hippie spirit Girlfriend, Sistergirl cries out to women to wake-up. Mystic is definitely an artist with a conscious. Chronicling the story of a young girl who falls in love with the image of a powerful man who isn’t what she thinks. On this song when Mystic raps, something just seems to click and it feels right, even the west coast sound to it feels right – this is another of the album’s stronger tracks. On it, Mystic raps: ”Girlfriend, sistergirl/ You’re a precious queen in a twisted world/ Looking for love in all the wrong places/ You giving up things that can’t be replaced.”
Cuts For Luck…For Freedom to me listens like Mystic watching out the window to the ways of the inner city where she grew up and that’s one of the reasons I like her so much. There is also the up front quality and the vulnerability of songs like Fatherless Child on which Mystic shares the story of her parents and the loss of her father to drugs. Moments like that on the album are what make it strong and what separate Mystic from most of her peers. The album has a grounded quality, a down-to-earth feel that most people can’t relate to – at times I find myself one of those people. Should Mystic choose to sing, I think she would be gain an incredible fan base, largely due to the fact that she has ability and she’s actually saying something. However, if she continues the indecisive stand of singer/rapper (a la Ja Rule) I think she’ll go largely unnoticed.
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