[Album Review] Kidd Russell -THE DASH EP (deluxe)1
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It’s that time again boys and girls. We here at CB haven’t done a group review since Rafael Casal’s Monster back in November. This time around, we’re taking a look at alternative hip hop artist Kidd Russell. We here at CB haven’t necessarily heard much about Kidd, but after reading the press kit we were happily surprised to find out that he has opened for The Roots, The Flobots , Mr. lif , Common, and Uncle Cracker among others. His music video for his track Dear Shooter has been featured on both MTV2 and MTV Jams (they still have that show!?) and his second video has wrestling stars from both WWE and ROH (it’s also the ROH theme music). Sounds like quite a resume right? Well, after learning this, we jumped into his recently released EP with pretty high expectations (or at least I-Tiffny- did). Read on for our thoughts….
After DL-ing the EP, we found that the tracks weren’t numbered…so in this case we just split the songs up randomly and all gave our opinion on the bonus tracks. A little note to the artists out there, properly tag your tracks before you send out DL links. Anywho, on with the review.
Tiffology
PARADISE 4/5
Sublime + reggae / ska beat + little hints of hip hop. And that’s a good thing. I love me some Sublime, haha. This was the first song that I played, and those words were my initial thoughts. Yeah. The flow of the song definitely gives off that paradise feel… all you need is a mixed fruit drink with Malibu rum, or something. A sweet little guitar solo over the beat comes in around 2 minutes and 20 seconds; very nice. “I can show you how to find paradise in your own life…”
BE.SONG 3/5
Be great. Be strong. Follow your heart and do everything you can to be better every day. While the lyrics are nice, I didn’t like how it was presented. I just didn’t like the beat. The words just felt rushed, if that makes sense. That’s just how it came across to me.
E. NORTH AVE 5/5
Relaxed, fun tune about his neighborhood, that features Ross Golan (I like his voice on this track, by the way). “All the street lights are broken // The house next door’s foreclosing // All the neighbors wave hello, cause they’re all drunk, broke, and smoking // My dad calls it free-loading // These bills sit here unopen”. Things might be rough on the outside, and it may not look like the best place, but it is what it is. And it’s home. I’m digging the melody. It has this summer-time vibe.
Tiffny
Bruce Willis: HAHA Just the simple fact this song is titled Bruce Willis had me interested. I like the rap/rock feel. Kidd Russell pretty much spends the whole 2 minutes and 12 seconds of this song letting us as listeners know he ‘dies hard’, that he’s not one to give up easily (hence the Bruce Willis) and that all the haters can pretty much chill with their BS because he’s not listening. Lyrically, it’s not much in terms of originality but I do like the adrenaline rush this song gives me. Seriously, this is a great song if you’re hitting the gym, training, or just feel like wildin’ out. [3/5]
Legendary: Ok, this song is silly, and I like it. At a little under 3 minutes it pretty much lays to music what we’re all thinking when we’re out partying: how fly we are, crazy observations on the people (and situations) around us, and the recap of all the crazy shit that happened. It’s got a funky beat, and I could see myself listening to it when I’m on my way to party. [3/5]
Hurricane: Well after listening to Legendary and Bruce Willis, I was a bit disappointed with this song. I didn’t really like it and I’ll tell you why. For the most part, the shallow lyrics got old for me pretty quickly. I was kinda expecting something a with a little more depth because the subject is something we’re all familiar with (if not in reality then at least in theory): falling back into the groove with an ex that probably should have remained as such. However, after listening to these three songs, I’m left with a one dementional impression of Kidd Russell, and it’s dissapointing because I feel like he could offer more. The track (minus the lyrics) reminds me of Happy Days..or something. LOL yeah, I wasn’t really feeling this song. [1/5]
LIZ
Suburban Anthropology
This sounds like a good song, but that might be because it sounds like Eminem’s satirical work, and the fact that I like Eminem. Wondering if the version with Asher Roth would have been better…can’t tell them apart. The beat is very catchy and one can listen easily to this song. I will not be too hard on these lyrics because the song is not presented as serious. Overall, this song seems to be influenced by Eminem which I hope is correct; otherwise, I just insulted the artist.
Rush (rock remix)
The rapping in this song resembles that of Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. I might not be alone in this belief. Though the underlying lyrics sung in the background are entertaining, I find that I would have enjoyed the song more if the background singers were singing one note lower. This song was short enough for me not to dislike it, but not long enough to warrant a repeat performance.
Dear Shooter (Acoustic)
I made the mistake of listening to the original version first, which is where the following response comes in: much, much, much better. For one I can hear the lyrics which in turn send the message across clearly. So I vote for the acoustic version all the way. The chorus is much more effective in this version; it doesn’t sound angry (like most other rap songs) which is how it sounds in the original. This will be given a good reception if given a large enough audience in the appropriate genre. In my opinion it is the gem of this EP.
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DEAR SHOOTER (original) [BONUS TRACK]
Tiffology: This is my favorite track of the five I reviewed. It’s a few open-letters from victims to their shooters. The first verse is a letter from an 11-year-old boy, to a man who shot his father in a random act of violence. The second verse touches on school shootings (“They told me sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me // I guess that’s not true, ’cause words can cut like glass // Make you wanna blast those who point and laugh”). The last verse is a letter from one shooter to another; a man who has to kill those aiming guns at him so he isn’t killed himself. It’s a song that will touch anyone in an emotional way, because it’s real. It makes me feel for anyone that has lost someone they loved to something so tragic. Jaswel Race sings the chorus, “I wrote you this letter the other night // Will you read it before you end my life // I gotta get this off my chest // Before your bullet ends my breath.” The song speaks volumes. [5/5]
Tiffny: Alright, remember what I was saying about depth of subject matter? Well here it is. I’m gonna be real; lyrically, Kidd Russell has room to grow, however the messege behind the song kinda makes up for it. His vocal performance I gotta say pleasantly surprised me. [ 4/5]
Liz: The chorus is the only part of the song I can hear without straining my ears to hear over the abusively heavy string instrument and surprise two-beat hip hop insertion (note: that was a bad idea on Russell’s part). The message does not come across at all because I was struggling to mentally remove the string instrument and replace it with one that has a lighter, more floating resonance. The two-beat insertions was so distracting, just when I thought I might get into the lyrics a beast of a beat comes along and harms my eardrums thus making me want to end the review.
I’LL DO ONE [BONUS TRACK]
Tiffology: Old School movie sample of Will Ferrell’s character in the beginning. Hard beat with matching loud, aggressive vocals. The song is just okay. If I had the cd, I’d probably skip it. The only thing that had my attention in a weird way, was one of the sounds in the beat (it reminded me of this cylinder toy I had when I was a kid). Don’t have much else to say about this track. [2.5/5]
Tiffny: The beat = love. The lead in from Old School gains points with me. However, again, I’m gonna have to repeat myself and say that I still feel like Kidd Russ has room to grow. This is a good song to play at a party where people aren’t really listening to what’s being said because the beat is tough as hell. Not something I’d listen to though. [3/5]
Liz: Love the clip of ‘Frank the Tank’ from the film, “Old School”. That was a good choice of introduction to the song. The beat is easy to dance to and the best beat from my pick list. I did not like the constant name calling-or ‘shout outs’ as they are called-of famous rappers which were followed by about two lines of what I would call begging. The remainder of the song is acceptable and the message managed to come across clearly. Do everything once.
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I think it’s fair to say that we collectively thought this EP was….alright. Kidd Russell’s on the right path, and we’re sure that with time he can only get better, just keep doing your think Kidd.
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Disclaimer: Album reviews on CrayonBeats are our own personal opinions or the opinions of our guest writers unless otherwise stated (ie paid sponsorships). Our reviews are meant to recommend what’s good and flag down things that aren’t (in our opinion). When this isn’t the case, we’ll be sure to state upfront any reviews that are sponsor paid.
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[...] Russell-”E. North Ave” March 15, 2010 by Tiffny A while back, we here at CrayonBeats reviewed Kidd Russell’s Dash EP (Deluxe) , and while our individual opinions varied from loving it to on the fence, E. North Ave was one of [...]