Cymarshall Law and Skit Slam are brothers (in the literal sense I’m pretty sure) born in the UK to Jamaican parents, and who spent their teenage years in New Jersey. They’ve both managed to go on to become fantastic underground MCs, and go by the name Everliven Sound when they team up. Their second album, Freedom II, dropped back in June, and has become an obsession of mine since I found it a few weeks ago.
To begin with, the two of them are phenomenally talented MCs on their own, and they work together extremely well, something many siblings can only envy.
There’s a lot of things about this album that really remind me of my favorite album of all time, Train of Thought by Reflection Eternal. A lot of the lyrics are about social issues; racism, poverty, lack of opportunities, and the flows feel like a breath of fresh air.
The strongest comparison is the beats. Swedish production team The Beatnikz provide the beats for Freedom II, and rival Hi-Tek’s epic production in the way that they tie the album together. A lot of hip-hop artists these days like to have multiple producers work on their albums, but I still maintain that having one person (or team, in this case) do beats for the whole album gives it a cohesiveness that really heightens the experience of listening to the album. The beats aren’t complex, but they’ve got something that meshes really nicely with the voices and really hits the spot.
It’s one of the best hip-hop albums of the year, so don’t pass it up!
[audio:Days-Of-Faster.mp3|titles=Days of Faster]Everliven Sound:
Genre: Hip-hop
Members: Cymarshall Law | Skit Slam | The Beatnikz
Origin: New Jersey
Label: HiPNOTT
Albums: Freedom | Freedom II | Freedom Express Line (Cymarshall Law) | A Blessing in Disguise (Skit Slam)
Links: Official Site | Myspace | Last.fm | Youtube
In addition to writing for Silence Nogood, I have my own blog too! If you like my music selection, come check out Listening to the Song in My Head.
