As you know, I am one half of a rap group called Dirty Water. We've been operating at a sub-underground level (without profit or promise for commercial success) for almost ten years. The bright side is that we've always been well-received. And more can you really ask for?
Until recently.
The other day I was Googling myself when I ran across something: a review of the Dirty Water album we released late last year, Joe D and Cool Cee Brown are Dirty Water.
This is the review in its entirety:
It's hard to make a good rap album. For proof of this statement, just listen to "Dirtywater." You'd think that two talented rappers, one of which is doubles as a producer, wouldn't have any trouble making a good album. Especially when they're so starved for success, they're about to be "killing everybody in sight." But though both of them are strong in their own right, and even as a duo, they fail to distinguish themselves in hip hop's overcrowded underground.
Present on "Dirtywater" are the usual underground themes: fake rappers, fake thugs, catastrophic brokenness, trouble getting women, with a dose of social commentary for good measure. That said, the duo deserves credit for being original with their themes, most notably Cool Cee Brown trying not to get beat up in "track 2" and revealing the Joe D as a stalker in "track 09." While they take on the generic underground themes, they usually put some kind of weird spin on it, which keeps things fairly interesting.
Where the album really fails is in its sound. Joe D isn't really a bad producer, although definitely not a great one. Still, the beats here manage are generally average. The problem is that neither the rappers, the production, nor their interaction grabs a person's attention. Everything is so low key that the songs start to blend together, none of them possessing any real sonic identity. They describe themselves as the rap equivalent to artists like John Lennon, but their work lacks that type of impact or originality.
Still, what's important to not is that they do succeed as lyricists. Joe D especially is compelling, especially in the introspective "track 11." Cool Cee Brown complements his serious monotone with a higher pitched southern drawl that really illuminates the tracks where they collaborate. The solo tracks are the most monotonous, as they lack this chemistry.
"Dirtywater" is frustrating, mostly because it seems to underachieve most of the time. As a straight through listen, it becomes mundane. None of the music is particularly compelling in spite of the group's talents. They lack the vision to successfully carry this project off. Hopefully they'll grow into it.
by Aurthur Gailes
Music Vibes: 3 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 4.5 of 10
What an asshole!
And I don't say tat becuase I'm a sensitive artist and I can't take constructive criticism. I say that because it's obvious the motherfucker barely listened to the album. For one thing, the song about me almost getting my ass kicked ("Automatic") is track #3, not track #2. And the "introspective" song he's referring to ("Wish You Were Here") has me doing lead vocals, not Joe D. And then, why doesn't he know the names of any of the songs? Did he pick up some bootleg copy off the goddamn Internet?
I'm just saying, if you're going to write something this negative, at least have your facts straight. Otherwise it undermines the legitmacy of your opinion.
Joe said, "If I see the motherfucker out on the street, I'm gonna kick his ass."
Which I don't think would be entirely inappropriate.
However, I do think it would be far more effective to pee on him.
That's right.
Tie him down somehow and pee on him. Not in a sexual way, but in a this-is-how-I-feel-about-your-opinion kind of way. We could earn ourselves a little reuptation amongst the Internet Literati.
"Don't give those guys a bad review, they'll piss on you."
"Piss?"
"That's right. Piss. Don't ask me how I know."
In lighter news...the night before last, we won a Wammie.
What's a Wammie?
A Washignton Area Music Association Award.
We tied for best Hip Hop Group with Zimbabwe Legit. So really we only got half a Wammie. And since we're a duo, that's like one quarter of a Wammie for me. We would have been there but we didn't know anything about it. We would have gotten dressed up and everything. Or as Joe said, "I would've gotten clean, man. A haircut and everything."
I hope they didn't feel snubbed.
At any rate, My sincerest gratitude to the WAMA for even thinking of us.
And a big fuck you to Aurther Gailes. Don't let us catch out somewhere, punk!
Thanks for reading.
GOBAMA! http://www.barackobama.com
JOIN THE BLACK BROADWAY ONLINE COMMUNITY http://www.blackbroadway.ning.com
Confession: I Google myself at least once a day. I also Google ex-girlfriends and people I hate.
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