U-N-I & Ro Blvd’s A Love Supreme has become quite the anticipated album as word continues to spread about Thurzday, Y-O and Ro (especially since the MTV VMA Breakout Artist award). Recently, I was lucky enough to recently hear almost 20 minutes worth of snippets from the album courtesy of my good friend Ro Blvd (B Club, what!!!). Here’s a quick rundown of the work in progress that’s shaping up to be the focused effort yet from everyone involved and a hell of an album. Disclaimer: These aren’t the real song names and the album is far from being finished.
“Supreme Song” – Everyone who cares enough about the album to read a song by song preview has probably already heard the first song Ro sent me. “Supreme Song” started circulating on 2DopeBoyz and a bunch of other blogs a few months back, check it out with some other Ro Blvd joints here if you haven’t already.
“Thinkin Bout You Lately” – Second joint I heard has fat, mellow synths (the synths are play heavily into the sound of most of the album) that makes for a beautiful zoning out kind of beat and the hook quotes Com “I’ve been thinkin bout, I’ve been thinkin bout, I’ve been thinkin bout you late-ly” and the vibe alternates between the more serious and carefree parts of relationships.
“What You Doin’ Tonight” – I LOVE the third joint on here. It sounds like a perfect warm, sunny day single with big fat bassline and the hook is one some flirty singing shit. I can definitely hear this joint being played in clubs, on radio, parties and so on. GREAT song and GREAT single material.
“Bitch, do you know what my name is? / watch your drink, don’t spill on my laces” – That’s how the next joint starts. It’s got some great uptempo synths, keys and feels like a party, kinda reminiscent of the Neptunes production on on the first Kelis album but with a twist.
“Hammer Time” – This track has a double time, party feel that reminds me of a cross between a J’Davey track & something you’d hear Dead Prez rap on. It’s still got similar synths to the ones that dominate the album but with some Southern sounding bass kicks too. Ro blesses the extended outro on here for bonus points. I’m not so big on the hook after 6 or 7 listens, but the raps sound good, the beat bangs and I can see the hook growing on me.
“One Day, You Gon’ Be A Star” – I remember this beat was originally a B Club joint and I’ve been a big fan of it since my first listen. It’s got a real uplifting, sentimental vibe to it and some of the best lyrics on the album. “It’s a Love Supreme / He says life’s a bitch / I can’t agree”.
“Double Burger With Cheese” – “Fuck having thoughts unsaid/you only live once til death is full fledge” & the beat’s got dark, hypnotic vibe to it that Thurzday & Y-O ride real well.
“Me Or You” – This beat’s got a drum break that’s thick, dusty and noisy on some El-P/PE sounding iddish.
“Cool It Now” – It’s got a backwards New Edition “Cool It Now” sample that doesn’t really make sense til you hear it. U-N-I sounds real comfortable on here and the beat makes a lot more sense to me with them rapping on it that it first did when Ro sent it to me last year. Definitely some creative iddish that everybody involved makes work. “Girl what you mad for / The good music & the cash flow?”
“You Break My Heart In Two” – From the long vocal sample intro on, Ro’s beat is intense with a crazy buildup and banging drums and his intensity is matched by the rhymes that start with a story about a fight with an estranged baby’s mother.
“Halftime” – Everybody’s gotta have a tale of struggle to make the album complete these days. Tales of blown transmissions, having to auction off shoes, having no money in the bank, busted windows, struggling and staying focused. The beat on here is crazy melancholy with no drums, cold keys, eerie synths, but by the end of the joint the attitude is “in the 4th quarter we taking these grammies home” and then the snippets end.
The album is apparently still quite a ways from being done though. With that said, everything on here is a HUGE step up from the U-N-I & Ro Blvd ish that’s out now (no disrespect, both have some jams & high quality projects out). Ro says they’re focused on really making something exceptional and you can hear it in the songs. Hopefully the album will end up dropping sooner rather than later, there’s no release date scheduled as of right now. While you wait, make sure you check out U-N-I’s Fried Chicken & Watermelon rapper tape, Ro Blvd’s work with Free Speech, the B Club & his features on my Mixing In Action #1 & 2 mixtapes.
And speaking of upcoming releases, Tanya Morgan’s really upping the ante with their new album Brooklynatti after their debut, Moonlighting, was called classic by Chairman Mao of Ego Trip/XXL fame. We’re still a few months away from 2009, but watch, A Love Supreme & Brooklynatti are gonna be two of your favorite albums when ’09 (damn, it’s weird to type that) is done, regardless of whether I’m biased or not.
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