The conversational style of rhyming in hip-hop seems to have
been pushed by the wayside and that’s exactly where Roxbury, MA native Ed OG likes to chill. The Truth Hurts, Ed‘s third album comes at you like the words of a frustrated homie
trying to cope with everyday life.
Sayin’ Somethin’ produced by famed
beat master DJ Premier starts off
melodic then slips into hardcore heaven. Ed
rides Primo‘s chopped drum patterns,
piano tunes and weighted basslines like a champ, offering many a wise quotable,
Either everything is working/or you
working for everything. Always ready with a strong message at hand, (like
1991’s Be A Father To Your Child) Ed addresses the problems of being a
baby’s daddy not romantically involved with the baby’s mother on Just Because. BET’s 106th & Park host, Free,
laces the female’s perspective with an impressive performance.
Even with times being tough for a young black male, Ed finds Too Much To Live Fo’.
On the breezy melody of a flute lead track, the lyrics Ed spits are as introspective for hard headed hoods as any preacher’s
sermon, Why haters want to see us
bleed/While me and my crew got mouths to feed.
The overall laid back yet rugged feeling of this album stays consistent through
out the 14 tracks, however, this is rare for an album that boasts 12 different
producers (including Pete Rock and DJ
Spinna). EDO.G may have stepped
away from the spotlight for a few years, but The Truth Hurts shows that he still ‘gotta to have it…the mic
that is.
