MattA75's Full Review: Soul Survivor [PA] by Pete Rock
So here we are, time for the 3rd annual "I'll Show You Mine If You'll Show Me Yours" write-off. The goal? Expanding musical horizons among the Epinions music community's elite and up and coming. Randomly paired off, reviewers must review a disc of their partner's choosing, the kicker being that it be something that person normally wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. My partner? Epinions hip hop head paulyoungotti. And that's where my story begins...
In my 600 plus reviews at this site, I've tackled things outside of my normal rock leanings. I've done pop, ska, reggae, R&B, and soul. What I haven't done much of is hip hop. This is not meant as a diss on the genre, but rather as a diss on myself. I know virtually nothing about hip hop's history, it's beginnings, it's untold legends, and most of all, I'm left with not quite knowing how to judge it critically. This is the main reason albums I own from everyone from Public Enemy to Eminem, Outkast to Nelly, N.W.A. to the Office Space soundtrack, remain un-reviewed: nothing intimidates me more than trying to come up with a decent hip hop review.
So when I pulled my name to match Paul's, I immediately swore under my breath, knowing what was coming. I wasn't mad about getting Paul, I think he's a great writer and a pretty decent guy to boot. It was the intimidation factor, a lack of confidence if you will. Quite frankly, after 10 listens to this album, I had no idea what to give it, and my rating is still rather shaky. But let's get on with it, shall we?
Who is Pete Rock?
Funny, that was my first question too. I picked him out of a random sampling of 3 choices supplied by Paul, mostly because of the title more than anything: it spoke of positivity, which when placed in a hip hop sense, I've come to enjoy quite a bit.
Rock emerged in the early 90s as part of a duo with rapper C.L. Smooth, releasing two discs, both apparently considered to be legendary in the hip hop realm, before splitting in 1995. At that point, Rock chose to work more as a producer, which given his obviously light mic skills, was probably a good idea. Three years later, he re-emerged with his first solo album: Soul Survivor.
Soul Survivor: Hip Hop Heavyweight or Watered Down Chump?
Upon receiving my copy of this disc from Half.com, I immediately looked at the tracklisting on the back. Immediately, I was annoyed. EVERY track, save for one, had at least one guest on it. The hip hop "guest" thing has never clicked with me. To me, if you're a solo artist, make a solo record. Don't pull in all these other guys to save your a*s. You're so good, make a record with minimal outside help. And then there's the case of the infamous hip hop "intro" track, which has started to infest other musical genres now as well. What a waste of my time, just start the record up already.
Within the first few songs however, it becomes obvious that the guests are here to save Rock's album from faltering under it's own weight. The beats are fresh, but it becomes plainly obvious that Rock lacks the vocal intensity or lyrical quality to make this a true hip hop classic.
To his credit, however, Rock does make the record diverse in terms of sound, moving from simple piano melodies on one track (the divine Take Your Time, featuring a gorgeously lush vocal guest spot from Jane Eugene) to the much more aggressive street sound of Rock Steady Part II, which is given it's energy from the duo of Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz.
Also to his credit, Rock does have some nice flow to his rapping, but his voice holds him back from being truly good at the game. Most times he just sounds bored, as if he just wishes he could get back behind the board and let his special guests do the bulk of the rap work. There are times though, where Rock sounds smooth and confident, probably no better than on Truly Yours 98, a song so steeped in misogyny that it wouldn't feel out of place on either of Eminem's last two discs.
Rock's Strange Fruit will remind you in some ways of the classic Billie Holiday song, as it's steeped in racial overtones, especially with regards to the justice system. However, it seems to lack the fire that would propel it to the top of the heap in terms of truly great songs.
The most fiery performance comes from Method Man on Half Man Half Amazin, a performance that others could have learned from on this disc. He sounds outright intense, and leaves Rock in the dust, which is as much a knock on Rock as it is a compliment to Method Man.
My ultimate problem with the album lies in it's length. At over 70 minutes and 17 tracks (16 not including the intro), it gets to be a bit of overkill, especially given all the different voices you hear due to Rock's own (understandable) insecurities with his skills as an MC. This leads to filler, most notably It's About That Time, which also is the one point of the disc where the production seems to lag, leaving the guest MC's Black Thought and Rob O out on their own with material that just isn't fit for prime time.
All in all though, Soul Survivor is an enjoyable enough piece of hip hop production. The beats should make you bop along, even if the lyrics are somewhat weak, and the guest MC's are far too many. I don't know if I'd call it essential, but it might just be up your alley if you're looking for something a bit different in terms of sound. And I'd especially recommend it if you HATE all there is to hate about the type of hip pop (no, that's not a typo) MTV loves to shove down America's throat. I'll give this 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3, and a recommendation.
At this point, I'd like to thank all of the other writers who participated in this shindig this year. This was by FAR the best year of this thing. You all wrote fabulous reviews, and I hope you'll all be back next year if you're still with us. You guys made me look both genius and bad at the same time.
Paulyoungotti, my partner, was given The Aquabats disc called The Fury of the Aquabats. You can click here for his entry.
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