Afu-Ra/State of The Arts

Sorry it's been so long, I've been insanely busy... but I promise to be more active. I've been dying to listen to "State Of The Arts" for a long ass time... Afu-Ra has long been a dude I've wanted to check out, it doesn't hurt that he has affiliations with Gang Starr (I promise to review Jeru The Damaja). I've heard material from Aaron Phillips before but never payed much attention... because his music is hit or miss to the max. But then a few of my friends recommended this album and I read up on it and sounds like it was met with some acclaim. So here goes:

The Good:

4. Pusha- This instrumental is fucking fire, and the lyrical competition between Afu and Royce da 5'9 is insane.

6. Living Like That- Amazing.... besides the hook.

7. Rumble- This should be a stand-out track, but the chorus is terrible: "You, do you want to rumble? Come rumble with me"... what the fuck? I guess the rock and roll aspect of this track is innovative, but it just doesn't sound good. Axl-Ra...

9. Why Cry- What should I say? This track has the potential to be something amazing and serve a purpose... but instead it becomes a Caribbean reggae song full of political satire and commentary. Someone has an ear for beats...

11. Cry Baby- The lyricism drops down, but the instrumental makes it sounds so much better. I've never been one for these "songs for the ladies".

12. Dynamite- What? What is he saying? Oh he's spitting fire over horns that drone his voice out.

16. Only U- Either Memphis Bleek sampled Afu, or Afu sampled Bleek because this is the instrumental for "534".

17. Poisonous Taoist- The sampling is out of place, the instrumental takes the focus off the lyrics, which clearly outshine any part of this song.

Huh... this album was hard to listen to because the instrumentals are horrible, or just don't fit and I didn't hear one good hook. But when you pay attention to what Afu is saying, you will realize that he is a very special talent... no one spits fire like he does. Dude just needs some more Primo beats.


0-20: Terrible listening experience
21-40: Maybe one good song
41-60: A few good songs
61-80: Half are good songs, half are weak
81-100: Great listening experience, almost all are great songs

I give this album a 63. I'd find a different Afu album, bit if you have your heart set on this one...


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