Defari- Odds & Evens: Defari's drop of his first album, Focused Daily, really caught my attention. It was filled with skilled rhymes and slick production. Now, he returns to the scene on his second LP, Odds & Evens, which proves that an artist can remain consistent after almost four years of releasing a previous album. The album starts out with "Pick a Number," a battle rap that is unbelievable. Following this is "Inner City," which is filled with tight verses and tradeoff rhymes with E-Swift. "Cold Pieces," the third song is pretty well done. I mostly appreciated the creativity on this track, where he describes girls who pass him by throughout the day. "Spell My Name" is probably the best track on this album. I also enjoyed "Pour More Likwit," "Los Angelinos," and "Hooks." One song that one might not enjoy, especially those who have followed Defari through the years is "Slumpy," which has a sort of G-Funk style production, which you might expect from Snoop Dogg or Dj Quik.
However, Defari, handles this track well with his rhyme experience, and the hook to this song pretty funny. I have heard some people say that this album lacks good quality production, but I have to disagree. The production is very well done from Evidence and Dj Babu. I think one has to remember that this is not your average mainstream or commercial album, where some rap artists rely on name brand producers to put in work for every song on their album. The production on this album holds creativity and originality, and Defari's lyrical delivery are superb. This is what underground hip hop is all about, originality and creativity. Overall, this entire album is great, far superior to most rap albums which were released in 2003. If you are tired of the mediocre and repetitive material in most rap albums today, then I suggest you check this album out. Odds & Evens really stands out as one of the greater releases by a West Coast artist within the past few years.
9 OUT OF 10 |
