Oasis Black by Moteleola

     The highly anticipated debut project from the young and talented UK producer Moteleola is finally here, and it takes the title of Oasis Black. This eight-track hip-hop tape comes jam-packed with flows and rhymes from a number of artists including Sene, Has-Lo, Ozay Moore, Chaundon, Signif, Allen Poe and many more as Moteleola himself described this album as " my album of thoughts expressed through the words of others." With that in mind, let's dive straight in to take a further look at what could be a staple in the young beatsmiths career.

     Those who've heard the production work of Moteleola don't need to be reminded that this man possesses a vast amount of skill on the boards, and rarely ever makes a beat less than stellar. For those not so antiquated to Eola's sound, then this album will serve as a great introduction to the skilled and proficient artist.

     On Oasis Black, Moteleola really displays his range, with instrumentals ranging from classic boom-bap, to more commercial sounding beats. Eola definitely put in some of his best work on the project, however, on a few of the tracks the beats seemed to take a backseat to the vocals. This is especially noticeable on the two songs featuring vocalist Olivia Louise. Don't take those words out of context, because Louise has a stunningly beautiful and unique voice, and she has worked well with Eola in the past, it's just that their styles didn't mesh as well as it has previously, and it caused for a much slower start to the album.

     Aside from that, Moteola absolutely killed it in terms of the production, and his best work can be found on the albums most compelling song, "So Good" which features both Sene and Cheer Dolor. This beat has a somewhat simple sound that is so silky smooth (as much of the album is) and draws listeners in with its serene drum kicks, and perfect increase of tempo for the hook. This track was one of the first singles released from the album, and I still feel that it's the strongest of the bunch.

     To finalize the previous thoughts on the production work on Oasis Black, Moteleola showed out true and true, though there his hip-hop style didn't seem to blend too well with slow-paced, yet melodic voice of Olivia Louise. Though, Moteleola still did a wonderful job displaying his true range in only eight-tracks, and the album's best beat (and overall song) is "So Good" which is the last track of the project, but listeners should have no problem staying tuned until then.

      In regards to the vocals on Oasis Black, Moteleola did a great job at recruiting artists with similar styles and sounds to have a placement on the record. Other than the already mentioned blemish in the clash of styles, everything else sounded crisp and proper as if the beats were hand tailored for the rhymers. With that in mind, a complete list of the featured artists is as follows:  Has-Lo, Ozay Moore, Dubz D, Chaundon, Sene, Olivia Louise, Lafayette Stokely, Allen Poe, Signif, SWB, Big Rooz, Jeff Spec, Melodious Mike, SoulThePoet, Tre DeJean, Cheer Dolor, J. Manifesto and Chakkra Tara.

     Artists that had some of the stronger performances on Oasis Black are Cheer Dolor, Signif, Ozay Moore, and Lafayette Stokely. Yes, all the artists had great appearances, just that these four artists specifically brought the overall album to another level with their performances! Of those, I'd have to give femcee, Signif the award for best performance, and while she was featured on two separate tracks, she still was an excellent appearance. 

     With great beats, and solid vocals, Oasis Black is sure to have at least one track that will resonate with each and every listener. There are very few flaws on this album as a whole, and the running feel of each track bring the listening experience of OB to a whole new level. It's pretty exciting knowing that Moteleola put together a project of this caliber as his debut, expectations are definitely high, so here's to him in hopes that he continues his musical growth and progression. Give Oasis Black a listen and be sure to comment your thoughts below!

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