@ The Speed of Light

Life moves fast, I mean in a blink you can miss so much. I just tend to think back to when I was this kid with no worries, no cares, just there somehow. I remember playing basketball with , friends everyday, or playing video games all night, sleep overs, crushes on your best friends sisters. Man they were hot. Walking home from school and stopping at the 7-11 to pick up a huge 64 ounce Mountain Dew, or when every arcade game was a quarter, and if you where good you could play hours on that 1 quarter, or setting you quarter on the dash of the arcade to challenge next on Street Fighter. Those where the days.

Look at me now, Graduating College, Married, a 9 month old baby girl! Moving across country. WOW where did all that come from. It's crazy and such a unique change in my life. I not saying that these aren't "The Day's" by any means. I'm just pointing out the drastic change my life has taken, I'm quite sure my wife could tell you the same. But for all these changes that my life has made I wouldnt change a thing.

Critique | Slow Down And Ponder

This is a very unique project, and when I say “project” not much less is meant than just that. This is a very experimental album, not over-laden with hooks or pointless skits. With the purchase of this CD, you receive 14 well-thought out, substance-filled tracks. It is well worth the five-dollar sticker price. Here is a overview of what one might expect upon purchase.

We'll first begin with the MC-ing. Mozingo, though sometimes witty and dexterous, as on “Why Hip Hop”, leaves not much to the imagination on “conceptual songs” such as “In My Room”, though it may have been desired. His flow is typically choppy, possibly due to having too few syllables in a given line. His personal reflections were of particular interest to me, such as his first verse from “Fragile”. They make the album much more personal. Bleu, however, seems much more poetic and expounds on topics much more than his counterpart. His flow is slightly smoother, though still choppy or thick-tongued at times (however endearing on occasion) and often feels forced (i.e. natural thought). He begins very Aesop Rock-esque on “Struggle”, but slowly ends in more of the same.

The production throughout is sick. The beats are hot, sure, but one can't overlook the sheer engineering that took place during the obviously painstaking editing process. Being a beatmaker, myself, I have a great appreciation for the craftsmanship that went into the creation of the music for this album. The samples are very unique, and the drum patterns and sounds impeccably match them. The only low points of the album production-wise are the two “video game” beats. They are good, but very easy to get over. I must say, though, that “All Rise” is the better of the two. “Club Ruin”, a clear standout track, begins raw and fresh, but at the commencement of the second verse takes on the piano used in the hook and becomes almost cliché. I can't speak enough of the obvious care given to not over-produce the album. Though the tracks are unmistakably “well-kept”, they graciously spare us the big-studio-everything-synthesized-and-pitch-matched feel.

As a whole, Slow Down and Ponder is a good freshman effort, not without its flaws. I believe, though, it is a solid work, and is sure to turn heads.