One of Seattle's hidden GEM!
C. Tran | Seattle | 03/03/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"One of Seattle's most gifted rappers, D. Black's debut album "The Cause & Effect" is a banger. It's a shame he hasn't gotten the shine I think he deserves. Many of you probably only heard of one D. Black song- "God Like" off Jake One's "White Van Music". It's a shame if that's the only song you heard from him because in my opinion, it's only a decent song, not up to D. Black's potential.
Inspired by some of Hip Hop greats - Biggie, Jay Z, Ice Cube and Rakim, you could clearly hear their influences on "The Cause & Effect". About 7 songs are produced by D. Black himself, while three of Seattle's finest, Vitamin D, Jake One and Bean One, along with some other local producers, produces the rest of the album. The album is 20 tracks deep, so expect some fillers. D. Black is at his worst when he's trying to appeal to the pop (there's like 6 of these types of songs on here). Songs like "Get Loose" just doesn't do it for me, but I can certainly see others digging this song a lot (he did release this song as the first single). D. Black is at his best when he's rapping about the daily struggles of life and making it out of the ghetto. Listen to "Survive", "This Is Why","Welcome to the Life" and you'll understand what I mean. The Jake One produced song "This Is Why" is one of the albums highlights. He's spitting some realness here over a dope, soulful Jake One beat. "Welcome to the Life" featuring the underrated hip hop group, Dyme Def, is probably my second favorite song on this album, excellent collaboration with each emcee coming correct. Really dope, upbeat song here. The gem off the album for me though is "Secret Place", a really deep song about his mother, who passed away. Very touching, in the same vein as Tupac "Dear Mama" and Nas "Dance".
Give this album a shot, it's one of Seattle's hidden gems. Space Muzik at it's finest, 206 up!"
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1