Valentines Day has arrived. If you have plans with a female, cancel them. This holiday is a hoax that needs to be stopped immediately. So the musicians and emcees at TruStatement decided to put out an album dedicated to the middle finger. “F?@k Love” is a collaboration of music from TruStatement artists that was produced this Valentines Day. The subject matter fits its balsy title. Each emcee takes his jab at relationships, Valentines Day, and females in general, both lyrically and intellectually.
the1shanti & EleckTro4 kick off the album with a remix of the single “I *heart* Olivia Munn.” Funky over-compressed guitar riffs
Detroit native Classik, a new comer to TruStatement took the third slot with the song K.O. He is currently working on Free Trade’s debut album “The Antidote” expected to release next month. He shares elements of motown and aggressive sampling with TSE. His approach to K.O. was to recreate a sample that is synonymous with Ludacris and other the hip hop acts for the last 3 years.
To Download the album free: http://trustatemententertainment.bandcamp.com/
Ayinde naturally kills it on his track “Lament”. Thick keyboard pads and tight kicks & snares bring the most old school sounding hip hop track on “F?@k Love” to the table. Oh yea, he sings a little too.
Bonita Applebum makes their debut appearance on TSE with their track “Why Can’t Love.” I would compare it to a mix of Bonobo, Little Dragon, and Lady Paradox. Female vocals are beautifully poured over the entire song. Nonchalantly performing with a cool calm delivery, this band has more tracks like this to come!
It’s coming to the point where I expect M.A.E to have a dope song prepared for any occasion. These guys manage to supply TSE with amazing lyricism and powerful music to back it. This time, the team prepared the song “College Girl Lost;” a song citing a handful of unattractive things chicks do in college. Bottom line: Hilarious.
And then there was PAR3. Quietly finding one of the dopest instrumental samples I had yet to hear in hip-hop. Austin, Rich, and Pete typically have songs like this on lock. Untouchable samples carefully picked and hand crafted to create full length songs itching for verses on top. If you think you can rap, contact these cats.
Baldi = Consistency. This is probably the most personal stories on the album “F?@k Love.” If you really want to indulge lyrically while jamming out to these songs, Baldi is my first pick for storyteller. Linking up with producer t. agency, the two find a comfortable blend of synthesizers and catchy piano chords to create the song “Listen to Me.”
As always, t. agency comes out with a fresh instrumental that turns heads each time his songs are played in a packed room. The track “spacelove” was chosen to add new elements of dance and jazzy house music. After teaming up with saxophonist Chris Lijoi, the two quickly developed a unique sound that has a very specific niche market.
Free Trade steps to the plate with his first released song since 2005. Headed in a new direction with old roots, Free Trade is exploring the art of jazz, lyricism, live recording, and above all, makin’ shit hot. Look out for him in a few months, as his debut album “The Antidote” will be released exclusively through TruStatement.com
Speaking of jazz, what album would be complete without seriously expressive musicians jamming under the leadership of saxophonist Chris Lijoi? A blend of new age jazz rhythms and reminiscent Wes Montogmery guitar licks. I love how this song slides into its own sound amongst emcees and hip hop producers (who are now probably realizing they need to sample this dude!). Lijoi is located in NY, NY and performs with various ensembles for a living.
The throwback of all throwbacks on “F?@k Love” would have to be Suburban Graffiti’s “RnBe Sexy;” a song crafted by young aspiring jazz and jam musicians. While Baldi emcees carefully chosen words, the band adjusts to jazzier rhythms and chord changes. “RnBe Sexy” is available off the album “Under the Weather” on iTunes.
No album regarding females in any fashion would be complete if Never Yet Contested wasn’t in on the action. This song is about a one night stand, and has a beautiful guest appearance from Julia V. Together the two tell a story that is crafty and catchy titled “One to One.” Never Yet Contested gives her plenty of time in the middle of the song to plea her case, but goes in when it’s his cue to tie up the ending of this song.
This album is packed with 13 songs relative to Valentines Day, and speaks personally on so many different levels of humor, swag, and ability. To find more about these artists….
Website: www.TruStatement.com
Blog: http://trustatement.wordpress.com/
Twitter @TruStatementENT
