Seap One - The Sickness Of Seap (Bandcamp)
I want to start of this review with my condolences to the family and friends of local emcee Daniel Davidson, aka Seap One, who passed away recently. His legacy will live on in RVA, in many of our hearts, and definitely through his team, Gritty City Records. This mixtape defines the pain you experience living in this city. I enjoyed listening to this mixtape because I can relate to his pain with family, friends, and addiction, which he touches on a lot on this album. “Remastered” is about becoming reborn in this world after you have experienced depression. On “Seap Knows Sorrow” he talks about how he's been through a lot in his life and the sorrow that he has overcome. I particularly like “Mama Never Told Me.” On this song, he talks about the famous saying “Mama said” and takes a new angle on it, saying how in this life you will experience things that you may not have been warned about. This album has production from Fan Ran, Delta Automatik, Poe Mack, and Profound 79, and every producer definitely matched the tone of the album and the vibe of Seap's intricate lyrics. He poured his heart and soul into this project, and as you listen, you will come to understand him not just as an emcee but as a person. The overall tone is definitely poetic, which you can hear in his cadence. I hope that this album reaches every emcee in RVA and shows how you can rhyme well while staying true to yourself and your life. RIP to an amazing artist, friend and brother.
Must Listen: Animal Bars, The Sickness, Ratchet Kids Anthem
Sleaze x Graphic Melee - Graphic Sleaze EP (Just Plain Sounds)
This mixtape comes from local emcee/producer Sleaze and local DJ/producer Graphic Melee, who are both part of the local coalition JPS, aka Just Plain Sounds. This EP is produced by Graphic Melee, which allows Sleaze to focus on his emcee skills for this project. In fact, Sleaze has not really produced the last two emcee projects of his, including his classic Heavenly/Devilish, which came out last year. I really enjoyed the mash-up idea of this project, which was a nice appetizer to prepare us for the follow-up to Heavenly/Devilish. Due to its brief length (only four songs), there isn’t too much to go into detail about where the content of this mixtape is concerned, but I will tell you my favorite song on here is “SunLove (Remix).” The first line alone had me hooked: “Say my shit's wack, I double dog dare you.” I would like to witness the results of that happening. I also hope to hear more production and DJing from Graphic Melee in the near future. Overall, this mixtape is a taste of what is to come from JPS this summer.
Must Listen: The whole project