HipHopSite.Com » basic vocab

Basic Vocab – "A Better Way" – @@@1/2 (Review) (sticky)

The_N — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:57:25 +0000

Basic Vocab is a three man group consisting of Miami, Florida natives: Mental Growth, JL Sorrell and producer Tony Galvin. Their 2006 debut album The General Dynamic was throwback that took the listener back to the “golden age” of hip-hop. On A Better Way, their second full release, BV again takes the listener back to a time of feel good music.

A Better Way comes fully loaded with 21 tracks, flowing with straight up tracks mixed in with a few beat snippets. The album begins with the ho-hum track “Classic”, a decent, but not mind blowing track. Luckily, BV quickly picks up their energy with the dope “Just Dance”, a high energy, feel good track perfect for any summer barbeque. The positives continue with the standout track “Prescription”. Galvin kills it with a mix of funky drums, bouncy cuts and a sample that grabs the listener’s soul and brings definite satisfaction. As A Better Way continues with the bouncy “Push It to The Side”, BV begins to lock the listener in.The vibe continues as A Better Way, takes you to a zone of relaxation with “There You Are”. The next track “Chill” immediately takes the listener back to the mid 90’s golden age with its lead in drums and continues perfectly.

As the listener hits the midpoint, BV keeps the party moving; both with the smooth “Keep It Simple” and “Club Music”. The consistency of A Better Way is powerful and BV does not try to reinvent itself during the course of the album. Tracks such as: “Tears”, “I Said It” and the title track “A Better Way” are all strong and do not stray at all from the vibe of the album.Other tracks such as “Why You Do Me Like That”, “Hot To Death”, “Like A Star” are decent, but not spectacular. These tracks are worth listening to, but won’t blow the listener away. The only real skippable track on A Better Way, is the boring “Sit On Down”, a minor misstep.

As described earlier, A Better Way also features four snippets that help to lead the listener into tracks. While this is great and everything, all of the snippets are ridiculously dope, but are inexplicably not used as full songs. As an aside, “Snippet 4″ is an amazingly bouncy and soulful beat that is wasted as a lead in.

Overall, A Better Way is a strong second release by BV with no hint of a sophomore slump. And even though it starts out a little slow, the album quickly gains steam and takes the listener home with very few stops. Basic Vocab has found A Better Way and it’s a path that should be followed.

Basic Vocab – "Sit On Down" (Video)

Matt Conaway — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:01:41 +0000

On April 13th, 2010, Basic Vocab (JL Sorrell, Mental Growth and Tony Galvin) return with their sophomore LP, A Better Way.

Basic Vocab – The General Dynamic

Andreas Hale — Wed, 24 May 2006 07:00:00 +0000

   Has anyone grown tired of the Crunk scene yet? Better yet are there any artists from the South who are tired of being associated with Crunk like it is the only style of music made below the Mason Dixon line? Basic Vocab may be considered as a group that has nothing to do with Crunk, but instead showcases that Southern hip-hoppers have more to offer than booty shaking music. With emcees JL Sorrell and Mental Growth being backed by Tony Gavin (Dave Ghetto’s Love..Life?, Trick Daddy’s “Shut Up” and Trina’s “Baddest Bitch” are on his resume) on the boards, Basic Vocab’s debut, The General Dynamic, looks to show that the state of Florida has emcees as diverse as they come.

   Basic Vocab are far from being “basic” emcees. Both Mental Growth and JL Sorrell have quite a bit to offer from a lyrical standpoint. “It’s Alright” is a song built to reassure those who are dealing in bleak times to keep their chins up. Sounds pretty simple in concept, but is articulated very well by two guys who call themselves “basic.” The only basic thing about the duo of emcees is the sound of their voices which can be quite difficult to distinguish one from the other. But once you find the slight pitch difference between the two you are treated by two emcees that are able to be diverse without being repetitive. The can cover social ill and dilemmas with joints like “Fallen One” or just give it to you raw with tracks like “Fly That Head” with the help of Dave Ghetto.

   Tony Gavin delivers a pretty solid product from a production standpoint. Although it pales in comparison to his work on Dave Ghetto’s debut, Gavin’s work plays well throughout. When Gavin contributes backdrops like “Fallen One”, there isn’t much to complain about as he matches some introspective lyrics with solid production. Gavin even takes it down a notch to soothe the soul with the previously mentioned “Sex” by hitting the sweet spot with subtle keys and crooning synthesizers. There are some pieces of production that don’t stand as strong (“Likeness”, for example) but all in all Gavin does a great job of keeping the momentum he built up previously going with this release.

    While the album is strong, it isn’t convincing enough to make the average radio listener smash all of his Lil Jon records and replace them with Basic Vocab’s. The majority of hip hoppers are brainwashed and need something quite drastic to shift their collective ears. Basic Vocab is solid as solid can be, but unfortunately the Crunk movement still overshadows everything.

HipHopSite.Com » basic vocab

Basic Vocab – "A Better Way" – @@@1/2 (Review) (*sticky*)

Basic Vocab – "Sit On Down" (Video)

Basic Vocab – The General Dynamic

Basic Vocab – "A Better Way" – @@@1/2 (Review) (sticky)