It is not often that I leave the safety and security of the rock and metal world to dip my inexperienced toes into the rap world. This is one of those times.
The album is the sophomore release from Oregon native, The Dirtball, who is also a member of the Subnoize Souljaz on Suburban Noize Records. The album is called Raptillion and contains twenty tracks of the Dirtball's speedy raps and elecronica inspired beats. It is different than some of the hip hop albums I've listened to, but not so much to make it stand out, or rather, not so much that t is terribly great.
The biggest issues I have with The Dirtball are the fact there is not all that much variation in his voice, it is either on or off, and the other is that the beats get a little annoying at times, getting a little busy and overshadowing the rhymes. Still, he does offer a siginificant amount of intensity, always keeping the show moving with his speedy flow.
Raptillion moves along without all that much variation. It is slickly produced, but fails to really develop anything that held my attention. Perhaps it is my unfamiliarity with the genre, or that when I listen to hip hop, it is something different than this, but this album does not strike me as being all that good. It really did not grab me and his voice does get a bit annoying after a while. It is slickly produced and the sound is very clean and crisp, yet it doesn't come together.
While Dirtball's speed impresses, he fails to hold my attention, as the lyrics seem to be kind of generic. On the flipside, his participation in the Subnoize Souljaz crew is much more palatable. I think it may be the blending of his voice and flow with that of the other Souljaz that makes it go down that much easier.
Bottomline. Not awful, as I have heard much worse, but not all that good either. It is a middle of the road release that will most likely satisfy those who like speedy flows and techno style beats. Others would be better served picking up Droppin' Bombs by Subnoize Souljaz.
Not Recommended.
Article comments
1 - Lucius
I am happy that there are many music reviewers out there that can give you an all around base of opinion about subjects. It is what makes the music industry great. I personally produced tracks: 5, 11, 14, and 18 for The Dirtball on Raptillion. I tend to disagree with Chris on his opinion of this album. I think the album is actually really good, the versitility is there and the courage for Dirtball to utilize way out of range production is a good compliment to unkown producers. The Dirtball is a very giving humble artist. His flow is sick and not a lot of theorized type rap artists can get with him. I wore out two copies of The Raptillion and that is very hard to do. The melody, the flow, the intensity of the beat, his delivery all come together perfectly and in my opinion he has made the Raptillion a great album. Thank you for your time.