Mello Music Group is highly regarded as one of the best indie labels in the underground hip-hop community. Oddisee, Apollo Brown, 14KT, and yU are among the many big names to release projects under MMG in recent months. Though one Mello Music Group artist that seems to be continuously overlooked is Jackson, Mississippi native 7even Thirty. 7even released one of the best albums of 2012 with Heaven's Computer, yet he still remains unheralded for his outstanding concept project that broke down barriers within the industry.
This time, however, 7even Thirty isn't rapping about his space odyssey. In fact, he is simply dropping mind blowing flows over Gensu Dean produced beats, with their latest collaborative effort titled, The Problem.
For listeners not familiar with Gensu Dean's production style, then prepare yourself for some bugged out, eccentric beats that will somehow get your head nodding in all different directions as if you were riding on the wonkavator with Willy himself! Dean stated that he wanted to make beats that would showcase Thirty's true lyrical ability. This seemed to be evident as the production is anything but usual.
The only downside to having spaced out beats is that there was no true direction to tracks. It just didn't seem to give off a smooth listening experience throughout the first half of the album. Everything seemed to mellow out towards the end of the project, but it may be somewhat challenging for listeners to stay with it while playing the album in it's entirety. That being said, this is still a hell of a job by Dean creating a new style and vibe to compliment 7even Tre-O's lyrical sound.
Speaking of 7even's lyrical sound, it would be very remiss of me not to mention that one of the funkiest, and most recognizable voices in hip-hop comes from 7even Thirty himself. He has this "thing" about his voice that listeners will notice, but they just won't be able to put their finger on what this "thing" is. Then again, 7even's entire style can be summed up with that same description.
7even Thirty does not disappoint with his rhymes on The Problem. While his lyrics aren't anywhere near as thematic as they were on Heaven's Computer, they are still as hard hitting as ever. One of the best lyrical tracks on the album is "Making Of A Vigilante" as 7even paints a vivid and dark picture of a story about a girl meeting a not-so-great guy. This actually may be one of the best tracks on the album as Dean's beat is perfectly aligned with mood and tone of the lyrics from 7even Thirty. The rest of the album is mostly just hard beats and hard rhymes, but that track specifically stood out as one of the better songs on the project.
Those who didn't hear Heaven's Computer may take to this album more so than those who did. This isn't to say that The Problem is lesser than Heaven's Computer, just that they are two completely different bodies of work, and listeners will need to understand that going into the project. This isn't release of the year or even release of the quarter, but it is a very strong album that adds another dimension to 7even's expanding catalog, and this is a genuinely a good album. Not many flaws at all, just that for some, it may be too eerie of album for their liking. Be sure to listen to The Problem and comment your thoughts!
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