Radioinactive - The Akashic Record Album Review
As a whole it’s an interesting project.
rating: 3.5
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Facebook Release date: May 1st Kamal de Iruretagoyena Humphrey aka Radioinactive is an LA-based Egyptian American Emcee who describes his music as a Hip Hop caravan with an ethnic vibe and a Gypsy theme. This is his fifth solo release over a 12 year period - however, he has released collaborations with fellow LA rappers Busdriver and Daedelus. This is released on Stranger Touch Records whose press pack really grabbed my attention with its description of Radioinactive. I must admit that I had never hear of him before sitting down and listening to this self produced album featuring the musical talents of David Moyer (The Breakestra) and Todd Simon (Macy Gray) on horns, Burt Gregory on Bass, DJ LA Jae on the decks and Radioinactive on the drums.
The album opens up with an off-beat strings intro that also has some very nice horns. There is a vocal sample overlaid onto the track but the music was what grabbed my attention rather than the vocals; a nice start. The second track is called Mint Tea and features LA rappers 2Mex and La Caution and is an upbeat track. It features an unusual sample that sounds almost Middle Eastern and a stuttering drum beat with some nice fast scratches for the chorus. The lyricist drops some interestingly abstract rhymes over this unusual beat to create an enjoyable track that stands out from the norm. The next joint is called Gypsy Shoe and features Busdriver, Ellay Khule dropping verses and Sunny Levine supplying the beat. The beat is again a faster one with nice 808s and a hypnotising instrument that's mesmerising enough to charm a snake. http://youtu.be/8cEZI1f1-M0 Track 4 is Outta Ya Head and although the beat itself is a dope off kilter piano loop with some nice horns and interesting lyrics it is ruined by the lacklustre singing in the hook. It depletes the tracks strengths, which are a dope piano loop reminiscent of Goodie Mobs Cell Therapy and interesting lyrics. Never Ends is the 5th track of the album and although there appears to be a nice strings sample somewhere in the midst of this track it works well with the vocal sample and Radioinactives lyrics. Bury Me Standing is an interesting track with a nice marching drum beat and a haunting vocal sample which works well alongside the intricate lyrics. The seventh joint is more of an interesting instrumental interlude than an independent track and as that it works well. It is mellow with some nice flutes and an elephant sample hence the name Trunk. The eighth track on the album is called Chump and is a funny track lyrically with Radioinactive dissing an apparent Chump over a mellow beat with a funny vocal sample. I enjoyed this track a lot and found it both funny and catchy. All U Gots to Know is the penultimate track of the album and again has a Middle Eastern flavour that provides an interesting beat. The lyrics are good and grabbed my attention and there is nice scratching throughout the track, which can only be a good thing. A strong track. Track 10 is another short instrumental interlude, which features nice congas and strings. This is followed by track 11, What It Do which is interesting enough but at the same time is too similar to a number of the other tracks on the album. The lyrics standout as particularly interesting on this joint but that may be because the beat itself is more subdued allowing you to focus on them more. http://youtu.be/GLxOGq-tGfM Antibiotics is a faster joint with some nice anti-establishment lyrics. The beat is interesting and nice but the track is broken up by a pointless interlude half way through that only serves to break up the tracks momentum. The last joint on the album shows us how good a lyricist Radioinactive is. He displays his skills on this track by rhyming faster than before on this album and yet still making sense or as much as any rapper can. A nice beat too makes the last track on the album a strong one. As a whole its an interesting project but suffers from three points in particular; it is made up of very short tracks with the longest being three minutes thirty seconds, a number of the songs sound too alike and lastly a number of the tracks have pointless singing that detracts from the beat and the lyrics. However it also has a number of strong points too; Radioinactive is a talented lyricist who takes his craft seriously, the beats are mostly interesting and unique to say the least. More so than 95% of the hip hop out there this guy has his own identity and cannot be said to be following anyone else and although he often does not succeed he is at least trying something new and being unique. Which in itself is commendable.