Search - Urban D. :: The Tranzlation

The most awesome rap album I've ever heard

J Lee Harshbarger | Ypsilanti, MI United States | 07/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was in college when "Rapper's Delight" started the rap era way back in 1979, and through the years I've collected lots of rap records. Rap has always taken a secondary role in my musical tastes, but in the last few years it has moved to front burner. Why? Because it's the only kind of music you can hear on the radio that has any creativity left to it. Alternative rock has grown stale, r&b is bland, and other stuff is just formula. It seems only rap is experimenting. I love the way instruments not normally associated with pop music are incorporated into rap, such as the radio hits that used harpsichord or koto (a Japanese stringed instrument).
This album by Urban D. is good at using sounds not normally associated with pop music. The opening track--spoken, not a rap--has a backdrop of stringed and wind instruments that sound like something from the Eastern Hemisphere. After this solemn track, the jams begin with track #2--which uses a backdrop of strings and get this--TUBA! Now when's the last time you heard a tuba in pop music! I love this!
But it's not like this is the only track that does this. Urban D. has Spanish and Greek heritage, and he celebrates this through his rapping (done in English, Spanish, and Greek!) and his sounds--several tracks feature Greek-sounding guitars and Latin sounds. "Who Do You Serve" uses a sample from classical music. (I put this and two other rap songs that feature classical music samples--"The Kind" by Delinquent Habits and "Angels" by Fashion Expo--on a mix tape on which I mixed pure classical and pop songs with classical influences.)
But this album goes even beyond just the musical elements. It is creative all the way through, taking you to street-scene raps (one over bongo, another with human beatbox), conversation in a pizza restaurant, and other elements to keep the album fresh throughout.
A particularly stunning and unusual track is one which he raps completely a capella--no beats whatsoever behind him--the story about his father's sudden serious illness. Even though it is a rap, it comes off as a naturally told story and is very touching. Amazing.
This album was my #3 album in 2001; the only reason two topped it was because of their singing. But in 2002, I am listening to this one more than my #1 & #2 favorites of 2001, so this thing has lasting power. This is an awesome album that clearly deserves widespread recognition."

Very good c.d.

Joshua | ONE NATION UNDER GOD | 07/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This c.d. is good because it reaches to those that may have never heard the Gospel truth, and at the same time Urban D. has correct doctrine so a Bible student can listen without getting sick, which is something that cannot be said about all christian m.c.s. "