No one wants to be lectured at by a guy with a fake mustache. But that’s what happens when you listen to UK rapper Baron Von Alias‘ debut, Timepiece, at least part of the time. Another part of the time you will hear the Baron claim he is a time-traveler from the 19th century. Do those two personalities seem at all congruous? They are not. The Baron can’t decide whether he wants to teach the youth of today about the ills of modern music and the joys of the old school or be the world’s first Steam-Punk emcee, bending time and space with his magic pocket watch. Neither persona is particularly interesting. But the Baron does succeed on the rare tracks where he puts down the patronizing lesson plan and/or the ironic dandy persona and rhymes about life in this century. But those moments are few and far between. Luckily for the listener, this record is bursting with amazing production even on songs where the Baron‘s lyrics are far from stellar.
The album opens promisingly with two good tracks. “Timepiece” boasts an interesting, if slightly asinine out of the album’s context, metaphor comparing the Baron‘s famed watch to a woman and an appropriately psychedelic backing track by Dom P. “Here and Now” features another solid production job, this time courtesy of Steesh. The chugging beat fits the Baron‘s slightly awkward flow well and the intermittent horn blasts keep the song exciting, as does a guest verse from Guilty Simpson [click to read], one of several rappers who steal the spotlight from the Baron over the course of the record. The first sign of trouble occurs on “Choices” and unfortunately that song’s problems are shared by quite a few other tracks. The song grates, the topic is well-worn, life decisions, and the Baron‘s lyrics, annoyingly double tracked here and elsewhere with a helium voiced echo, add nothing new to the topic. The same can be said for “Kids of Apocalypse” over a tired chipmunk soul sample the Baron tries to send the message that we are creating a worse world for the next generation but does so in a trite way, with well-worn clichés. No one’s mind is ever changed with boring words like, “Is this night or day/The sky above stays gray/Visions of the future polluted by toxic waste.” It seems the Baron has no problem addressing the problems, clearly stating what is wrong, but is sorely lacking when it comes to having any possible solutions or even interesting opinions on the problems. The same trouble afflicts “The Sun Might Shine Tomorrow,” a too fluffy track with silly chorus and more “keep ya head up” platitudes. A rapper should be able to find a better metaphor for confusion and clarity than sunshine and clouds.
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But when the Baron‘s lyrical lacking becomes difficult to take the production rides to the rescue. “P.H.O.N.E.Y.” is an electronics tinged bouncer from Steesh, with energetic guest verses from Frank N Dank, a great chorus with overlapping vocals and catchy horns. The Baron even shows surprising dexterity in his flow, easily keeping up with the double timed beat. Steesh also deserves credit for “Goodbye” which features vinyl cracking and scratching that combine to create an old school vibe along with a soulful guest spot by Melanie Rutherford on the chorus and a great verse from T3 of Slum Village [click to read], a mature but humorous assessment of a string of lost loves. Dom P. contributes more outstanding production work with “The Baron,” a sampledelic treat with snippets from old movies mixed with the booming voice of Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti. The album’s other MVP is Arhat. His production work on “Don’t Cry for Me” is suspenseful with strings throughout the chorus and a mournful horn line on verses it perfectly matches the theme of the song. And Baron does a good job of using his time traveler shtick to address mortality. But while “Ghosts” features more impressive work from Arhat, bells and chimes float over the propulsive beat and eerie vocals are buried in the mix, Von Alias lets loose with more of his wrongheaded righteousness that is ultimately this entire album’s undoing. Baron delivers simple lines like “The shiver in my spine winds up my mind ready for action the traction in my rhymes gets tight” then claims to be a martyr sent to save this age. Hopefully he is referring to the sci-fi aspect of the record because the Baron doesn’t have the lyrical skill to save anything.
But he does have good intentions and an energetic, committed delivery which makes him likable in a goofy, inoffensive way. The Baron clearly loves the old days, but it is the old days of the 1980s he misses, not the 1800s. On closing song “Memoirs of the Baron” the UK emcee is once again given an incredible track to work with. Lootpack‘s DJ Romes provides an old school summer time party track, complete with Public Enemy [click to read] sample. The Baron‘s delivery is good but his obsession with the past and his insistence that things were better then become tiresome. Dogged allegiance to nostalgia doesn’t achieve anything. Plenty of emcees with feeling still exist. “The good old days” versus today is a boring idea, and usually not accurate. There is always plenty to celebrate and denigrate in every age. And until the Baron realizes this and gives up looking backward and the boring banality of his more conscious songs he will continue to be outshined by the extremely talented producers he seems to have a knack for choosing.
