(Album Review)-@DjustinMcFly “The B-Side Love Songs”

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Rockford, Illinois Hip Hop artist The Last Wordbender released his debut album, “The B-Side Love Songs”, on March 23rd and the project consists of twelve, originally produced tracks with guest features from Akeem Kizart, The ImFamous KenFlow B, Miss Ambitious, TRIM Forte, Carla Michelle and Shony Jones. The combined lyricism oozes of raw, organic hip hop. The brunt of the production is provided by DJ Brickrock and a sole track from DJ Terrible T and focuses on a mixture of love inspired, boom bap soul music. GYBU was blessed with the opportunity to dig deeper into the album by conducting one of our track by track reviews. So without further ado, let’s dive into “The B-Side Love Songs”.

The album kicks off with the ultra soulful “Now is the Time 4 Me” which features fellow Rockford artist Akeem Kizart and also has a video to accompany it by. This is one of the standout cuts from the album. The song and video concept have strong references to the classic Sly Stone flick “Rocky” and really sets the tone for the overall vibe of the project. There’s also a skit that follows the track and is the first of many short skits that help give a true hip hop vibe to B-Sides. “The Reluctant Princess” follows and is produced on a more mellow tone but Wordbender does an excellent job handling the production and I really enjoy the fairytale concept behind this one, yet another standout track. TLW’s poetry skills shine brightly one this track. Then on “Wild Horses”, the Rockford emcee paints a picture of two individuals crazy in love. DJ Brickrock does a great job on the production end, with clean, soulful samples all throughout the project, “If Only You Knew…” is yet another dope example of the great chemistry between the two. On this particular track, Wordbender takes the flashback route, penciling a story of a love that begun way back when and how that relationship still has an affect on him.

“Now is the Time 4 Me” video:

“Children Know My Name” opens up with some deep insight behind marriage and cheating and bolsters a feature from The ImFamous KenFlow B. This is a dope concept record. If you don’t catch it at first, you should after the first chorus line. “Girl, you better keep it down before your children know my name, your children know my name, your children know my name and they father come and asks you how your children know my name?”. A subject that is widely accepted within society, especially in the rap world. A quick skit follows suit into the next song,“Hard Not to Love Him”, which carries guest features from Miss Ambitious, TRIM Forte, & Akeem Kizart. “Now is the Time 4 Me” was a great track to release for the lead off single and this record would make a great follow up single. With a radio friendly instrumental, a sweet & sexy hook from Miss Ambitious and the slick back and forth concept the fellas put on make this an ideal track for a single. I also feel like the overall feel of the song is something that needs to brought up more in music. The quick bet change up at the tail end is the icing on the cake. “When She Said Hello (WoW)” is a commercially styled track with it’s very playful production and could fair well on college radio. The bounce and feel of “Whatever” gives off the impression of something to put on later on at night after that last phone call with your lover friend. Miss Ambitious makes another appearance but for this go round, she plays backing vocals on the track. Eight songs in and The Last Wordbender has stuck to the whole love & relationship theme on the album, another nice feat.

“Hard Not to Love Her” is another deep concept song that touches on another downside of a tainted relationship, parental rights and the issues that occur as a result. It’s also the only track on the album not produced by DJ Brickrock. For this specific track, Wordbender portrays a situation where the father and mother are in a custody battle and the mom is setting an awful example for her daughter. “I Heard you call him daddy and I died twice” is the last lyrics heard on this song and really hits home with situations like these. Another standout track on B-Sides. “Noche de los Muertos” or “Night of the Dead’ for our non Spanish speaking viewers, features Carla Michelle and follows the feeling of “Hard Not to Love Her”, a more sorrowful one. That vibe is quickly reversed on “No Textbook”, carrying guest artists Carla Michelle & TRIM Forte. The production of this song seems less boom bap but is still a decent offering. “I Can’t Help It” closes “The B-Side Love Songs” with a sample of a song from Micheal Jackson’s that shares the same title and Shony Jones singing over the hook.

The Last Wordbender’s debut effort is a real solid one but there is something that stood out to me while listening to it repeatedly; the overall mix. I could really hear the difference in the mix on the latter half of the project and it took my ears some getting used to. Even though the theme of the project is of love and relationships, it’s rooted in an underground hip hop format and fans of that particular style of hip hop aren’t really focused so much on the master but with the lyrics and feel. For being a local artist and a debut album, Wordbender did an impressive job with B-Sides. Sticking with local artists for features and keeping true to the artform also impressed me. With standout tracks such as “Now is the Time 4 Me”, “The Reluctant Princess” & “Hard Not to Love Him”, this Rockford native laid a solid foundation for his career with “The B-side Love Songs”. You can stream and download the entire album from the player below.

Reviewed by: @blitzb_60505

About Blitz

President, E.I.C. & Content Manager for Get Your Buzz Up - Digital Media Specialist For Independent Artists

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