Review: Page Kennedy Shows Promise & Rookie Mistakes On “Torn Pages”

    Page Kennedy has had an interesting and fruitful career arc over the years. From reoccurring characters in Emmy Award-winning shows like Weeds and Desperate Housewives, roles in movies such as S.W.A.T. and Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood to social media success with Vine and YouTube: Page has in nearly every form of media and entertainment. Now it’s time for music. The Detroit native makes his foray into rap with his debut album, Torn Pages. Despite an earnest effort, there isn’t a consistent theme throughout the album which ultimately reveals itself to be a collection of random tracks.

    The LP opens with “Reintroduction” as Page takes this time to introduce the listener to him as a rapper. Over a militant production, Page uses the intro as his origin story with rapid-fire precision (“That’s right I’m a shitty rapper because I don’t talk about poppin’, turnin’ up, or fuckin’ models,” he quips).

    That message of what he doesn’t do in his music, however, becomes muddled by the time you get to the Kuniva of D12-assisted “W.C.W.” Standing for Woman Crush Wednesday, “W.C.W.” is three minutes of clumsy punchlines, body-shaming and slut-shaming rhetoric over triumphant horns seasoned across a jazzy melody. Lines like “Hot chicks get likes ‘cause they got tits” and “She could be Magic and wouldn’t be Worthy” exemplifies exactly what Black women have been saying about their mistreatment at the hands of Black men for decades.

    More missed moments are had on “Haters Be Like”. Page channels his inner-Eminem and does his best Reed Richards impression with bars like “Could give a Vancouver lesbian that pipe, that’s right I give Dick to a Van Dyke” and “Money and yoga pants, gotta make it stretch.” On the lyrical onslaught of “Testing Me”, King Los and Royce Da 5’9” tackle the dark, brooding production in the manner that earned them their battle medallions but Page seems to force bars like “Not for nothin’ but Keepin’ Up with the Kardashians will get ya ass shot, see the correlation between Kardashian and ass shot?” In an even more puzzling move, the song randomly fades out with no lyrical clues as to why as Page raps.

    Torn Pages does have its redeeming qualities, however. “Therapy” is a sobering look into the life of a struggling Black man in America feeling the pressure of today’s society and trying to be the best man he can be. Melancholic keys and eerie drums serve as the background as the track takes an interesting look as Page tells his story to a psychiatrist, perhaps tackling the angle of mental health in the Black community. On “Renee” also shows Page at his best as he details the struggles of his relationship with his mom. The record tackles a topic that we don’t see broached in Hip Hop too often — or at all. We’re all way too familiar with the deadbeat dad trope but rarely do we ever get a glimpse of an absentee mother from the child’s point of view. If you can push past the painfully remedial hook, there’s a story here that is really worth your time. Kennedy’s spin on life “Growing Up in the D” takes us through a journey of his life in Detroit with a perfectly placed Eminem vocal from “Amityville” as the top line of the beat.

    While the current cultural norm shows us fabrication is the motto, Page Kennedy gave us his life in Torn Pages. The depth it shows, at times, is remarkable and Page’s command of his voice is stellar. But while it’s clear Page has the technical and lyrical ability to make a mark in Hip Hop, Torn Pages does suffer from a lack of expert executive producing. Too many times the listener is given a very potent bar, immediately followed by a forced punchline. It sets the stage for an even better effort virtually by default.

    19 thoughts on “Review: Page Kennedy Shows Promise & Rookie Mistakes On “Torn Pages”

    1. I dont give a fuck ..that new krayzie and bizzy bone album is coming soon..the new single out already..no one flipping like bizzy ..its fire for realz…grown ghetto gospel music..fuck all that wanna be but cant be (coming home ft stephen marley

    2. Album of the year so far. Very creative. Flows, lyrics, rhymes, subject matter, features on point, production could’ve been better.

    3. Great album, the song Renee being the most replayed for me currently. Big fan of Page and can’t wait to hear more.. Hip Hop needs a revival, this is a step in the right direction. Big ups

    4. I believe that this album so amazing and mind stimulating that even though you may be an actor I feel like your true skillset lies within rapping . You were able to convey such a profound message within your music while also keeping true to yourself . Please continue with the journey that you have found yourself on. I know that biggie would be proud . Don’t look back one day 10 years from now I believe you’ll be one of the best in the game. Only believe you can achieve this if you give it your all which I know you love acting but in order to achieve your goals you must in the studio day in and day out and commit yourself to The Daily Grind of your craft with no distractions. Rap is meant to tell a story as you do . So many rappers in the game such as Mumble rappers only entertain audience. Your purpose is much greater than that. My only suggestion is that you mother your craft after those such as J Cole ,Kendrick, logic ,and goldlink. These rappers focus on more than just lyrics they Focus on mating a story and a Beat that’s all purpose is to stimulates the soul of their audience. And while doing so they don’t apologize to anyone for the stylistic choices. thank you for your gift of music to the world.

    5. Your generous with that 3.3! I’m glad I didn’t pay for this. Giving it a 2 for the features. Royce da 5’9 and King Los always killing the game.

      1. Did we listen to the Same album. If I were you I’d give it one more listen. But the next time you give it a listen please do so with an open mind and try and immerse yourself within the lyrics and the Beat . there I think you will find what everyone else sees in this album as well as the Creator. If not I understand has their own musical taste. But even in that case I don’t think that this album should be rated anything lower than the 3.5. A lot of rappers right now and in the game have no lyrics and Beats that seem to just be catchy but don’t make you feel anything but being ignored after the second time listening to it

    6. This album is what we need now. It’s refreshing and thought provoking, not just a bunch of rhyming shit words thrown in some bumbled up mess hidden under a decent beat. Page is a lyricist, a genius with words with the ability to put them together on top of amazing beats. This entire album is redeeming! It doesn’t even make sense to say “redeeming qualities”. Page’s passion and life experiences shine through the lyrics and the beats are profound. I can’t say that I have been this impressed by an album since the mid 90s. It’s time to renew, refresh, restart and get more beats, lyrics and bars like these that make sense.

    7. This shit below mediocre corny punchlines same boring boom bap beats. Dude claims to be “real hip hop” but got killed on every song that had a feature giving it a 2 for the features and don’t get me started on that W.C.W song shit was beyond corny smh.

    8. Great album. Flow could tighten up on a couple bars but the voice, delivery and lyrics were excellent. Looking forward to a second album and seeing him come back even harder

    9. It’s an underrated album. It’s more authentic than most of the music that the industry so called artists has been dropping, he put his life an soul into this album he deserves a better rating than this. 10/5 for me

    10. Sounded like a come out album meant to be released late 90s early 2ks. I feel like his next album should tell a few stories connecting or otherwise. Less look how I put it down. More putting it down. 4/5

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