Hey People!! I received my first album review. There’s some positive and negative feedback. I’m trying to focus on the positive. What do you guys think? Do you agree with the writer?
-Sag
Reason to Doubt: Sagittarius Black “Burden of Proof”
The burden always rest on the artist, the emcee, because the audience is not that forgiving. In a medium defined by swagger and cynicism, you have no choice but to deliver, and as the fading novas of so many careers dot hip-hop’s skyline, you have to come to terms with the truth; it doesn’t take much to be forgotten, before you’re even known.
Talent is not enough. It would be idealistic to believe that the only ones who have survived the trek from the block to the stage, to your uninterrupted playlist are the “talented ones.” The tragedy is that so much of the business weeds out talent. The gripe that there aren’t enough lyricists in the game anymore is a valid one. Sagitarius Black is undeniably a lyricist; complicated, nuanced, versatile, and scarily capable. He possesses that rare ability to manipulate language into something more than hollow punchlines, he compels you to think, and to laugh at yourself 30 seconds after with that “oh shit did I just get that” grin on your mug. He shows the ability to handle tempo, and master cadence, to be ironic in a genre increasingly dumbed down. And for all that, his latest offering Burden Of Proof falls short of presenting a case.
Toni Morrison takes an average of 5 years to complete a novel. Not because she has any lack of capability. Its because she has an abundance of it. She has no choice given what she’s capable of but to invest herself in the production of Nobel caliber work. It’s a matter of integrity. Sagitarius Black has to mature into an artist that demands of himself the integrity his immense talent can accomplish, and should demand. Unfortunately so much of the album doesn’t live up to that. Ironically, “Proof” sets itself up by beating you over the head with wordplay and the gutter from jump. If the intro is foreplay, lyrical arousal, then much of what’s left is turning the lights on and wishing you hadn’t. Not fundamentally different from what you expected, just not exactly what you were looking for.
So if there aren’t enough emcees why hate on this one? Because an album is more than rhymes. It’s about the whole, the intricate relationship of parts, how lyrics knuckle and grip beats, how melody furnishes cadence, how a voice weds with the music. Musically “Proof” doesn’t make much of an argument, with shine moments too few and far between to compensate (Rah, Bringin The Heat, and Give it to Me) . “Proof” is fraught with awkward pauses, designed to showcase beats that don’t stand alone. The result sounds like Sag simply couldn’t fill a track, a failing all the more stark when compared to those few tracks that deserve airplay. Many would argue that with the advent of itunes the age of the album, as a comprehensive work, even as a narrative is over. Given that, maybe we can let Sag off the hook. I’m compelled not to. He’s good enough to expect more, and someone should tell him that.
