A common complaint lodged against Hip Hop’s underground sect is that it often struggles to add to the conversation. Music is a “what have you done for us lately” business; Illmatic is 22-years-old and the world lost Tupac approximately two decades ago all the same. Still, artists like Detroit’s Apollo Brown and Brooklyn’s Skyzoo have predicted their craft on the sound of days past, excelling in their niche thanks to a large contingency of loyal fans who remain faithful to the boom-bap sound. Their collaborative project, The Easy Truth (via Mello Music Group), is another step down that path, reliant on instrumentals, kicks, snare and hi-hat, something sure to excite both Pete Rock and the subgenre’s loyal fans, leaving others looking for party or turn-up tracks uninterested.
Produced entirely by Apollo Brown, The Easy Truth’s 15 individual selections have a cohesive feel. Neck-snapping snare serves as the foundation on all but a few songs – most notably “The Vibes,” the duo’s take on a more modern-sounding song (808s included) – with airy piano, strings and samples setting a nice backdrop throughout.
The latter is especially impressive in today’s age, where sampling has become increasingly out of reach for most artists due to cost and accessibility; still, tracks like “On The Stretch & Bob Show” manage to feature samples (or similar reconstructions) of Nas’ “I Can” and Black Sheep’s “Flavor of the Month,” while “The Flyest Essence” takes queues from the Nascent-produced CyHi The Prynce track “Good For Me.”
The other half of the equation is equally important, as the lack of upbeat tracks places further importance on Skyzoo’s rhymes. (Brown has been open about his preference not to make “happy music.”) A storyteller like a number of Brooklyn MCs before him, Skyzoo recounts growing up in the streets on numerous tracks such as “One in the Same” featuring Patty Cash: “I was 12 falling asleep to the thought of a kilo/I was 12 in advanced classes as bored as a free throw / my mother’s biggest fear was me coming home with a P.O.”
The Easy Truth is also an album 15-years too late. Even diverse audiences who appreciate the album’s fixated direction can predict the soundscape midway when lax numbers like “Care Packages” and “Innocent Ambition” roll around. True to one of the biggest themes of underground Hip Hop, Skyzoo can also be found lamenting the genre. “So you pick out your lane and turn Kramer with the room if they get you some paint/With no open mics for you to blow your lights, but shit, they don’t hear you anyway they just listen for names,” he raps on “Spoils to the Victor.” Still, Skyzoo makes it clear that he’s not just here to wallow, answering one of the bigger complaints against the subgenre: “’Cuz duke I wasn’t put here just to settle for the echoes.”
While the project will likely be devoid of mainstream success, the work of Apollo Brown and Skyzoo is far from failure. The duo know their lane – and their fans – and the underground subculture will benefit from it.
No less than a 4.6. Y’all buggin. Every song is dope.
The Easy Truth is also an album 15-years too late ????? Nah, this album is on time and needed at this time………this album is going to show the way for hiphop to regains its essence.
Great point. Never too late when you make great music. Sky gets better each album!
This could definitely arguably be album of the Year!!!
I have said on multiple occasions that Skyzoo is lyrically #1 or #2 in the game depending on who you ask. This project is getting my vote for album of the year. Pure hip hop dopeness.
Apollo used the Early Morning beat for the second time on this album for Innocent Ambition, but aside from that it’s an awesome project, exactly what we need right now.
best hip hop album of the year
forgot to vote 5/5 yall
This album is the truth. Apollo Brown and Skyzoo never disappoint individually and their collaborative effort proves steel sharpens steel. 4.5
Skyzoo is Top 3 MC’S in rap. Apollo’s production is refreshing all the way through. Timeless album 100%
The review spent too much time discussing how this album was meant to cater for a select crowd. This is a great injustice to the album where you can tell apollo and skyzoo have crafted a certified gem. The intricacy and the visual element sky brings to the table is intriguing and thought provoking throughout. The guest verses as sparse as they are all add to the melting pot of ideas explored on the album (Conway specifically I mean damn!). Paired with a diverse selection of production from Apollo this is easily one of the best albums of the year. This album sounds fresh and original fuck a niche Support the real
That was the first time I heard Conway rap and he dope but Westside Gunn is a beast with unique flow
Dope beats, dope rhymes. This is a classic.
Found this a little disappointing.
As much as I love these throwbacks I think they could push the boundaries and put something much fresher out.
3/5
no sorry . To be real I loved 90’s Hip hop but it is 2016 and technology is better than ever the music should sound progressive. this dated azz shhh.. man stop..Skyzoo is a supeeeer dope emceee. as Good as it gets but he just cant figure it out like so many new york emcees that word progressive….. think Kendrick lamar… Drake…. they mix in some old but they also give you progressive shh. why so many samples when so many young musicians out here from the churches to the colleges and school of arts.New York needs to step it up with new music live fly shhh….. live music… when Hip Hop was created cats couldnt afford alot of stuff now with technology you can work with cats all over the world session musicians dj’s etc…. this shhh with dusty samples and beat breaks is weak for ear….. right now not amazed. i do like occasional ill samples. when mixed with live dope musicianship and new Drums!!!! and patterns….. thuimbs down skyzoo
Detroit James .I agree there should be more progression. however this album is dope and to me either something is dope or not dope. This is Skyzoo best album since the one with 9th wonder.
I get it, these comments about progressive music. I get that in order to be considered a brilliant musician you don’t just introduce your sound in a specific genre but you try to evolve from that. You try to offer your audience something they have never heard before, or at least not like this. Therefore, “think Kendrick”… sure although his sound can also be considered retro at times. “Think Drake”… no man, don’t think Drake. He sounds modern sure, but dude is wack as fuck. I prefer Skyzoo’s conscious raps over old school beats (although AB deviates from that on this album at times) over these wack MC’s talking bout their girl having matching bling on. Schoolboy Q, Drake, ASAP,… shit I’ll never understand
I’m all about real hip hop, but this shit is a dull record.
Give it another listen, if you’re about real rap music then you probably should give it another chance. Just sayin.
why are apollo and these backpack rap dudes stuck in the 90s? beats sound the same and I get that apollo has his own style but he’s definitely not pushing ANY boundaries musically speaking. He does his thing, and he does it well. Is he challenging himself to progress, it doesn’t seem like it. madlib had multiple aliases just to put a name to all of his different styles. dilla’s body of work speaks for himself – he is the style master and could do everything. even folks like flylo and hudmo started kinda as dilla/madlib disciples but grew into their own and have their own style that now is getting copied by producers from a younger generation. but apollo, YAWNNNNN.
Your obviously stuck in one type of hip-hop music & needs to expand your horizons. Either that or give it another listen. . .
Beautiful indeed… 5/5 real.
Apollo Brown & Skyzoo got a classic in their hands. the album is extremely motherfucking dope from start to finish. i just can’t get enough of listening to it.
It’s simple, if you love the old 90’s sound, with a modern touch then you will love this record and all that Apollo and Skyzoo stands for. If you dont, then probably you’re more into the modern rap sound which in my opinion sucks, but hey we are all different. Just one thing, be very careful in judging an album based on these reviews, in my opinion this is top 3 albums of the year so far, together with Elzhi – Lead Poison and De La Soul – the anonymous nobody. Peace.
Definitely a dope album. I don’t buy many albums these day but this one was worth the investment.
Skyzoo wrote this joint in 6 and a half days. Rewind that….Apollo lives vicariously thru dilla front to back…Rewind that. These dudes independent. Rewind again. Dont be mad ya bitch cant orgasm. This is a masterpeice; hold that.
This is hiphop for adults
4.5/5 skyzoo def knows his lane, and hiphopdx are in the other lane.
hip hop. 90s feel
4 out of 5. Doap album to listen to at night. I don’t know what it is about Apollo Brown, I usually get bored with an hour plus long albums filled with 90’s era inspired beats but every time he works with a rapper for a full length the result is awesome. I find this album even better than Trophies or his work with Guilty and Ras Kass. Nicely done. As for Skyzoo, he did better (Music For My Friends, but nothing beats the A Dream Deferred) but he alright. Not one reason to hate this LP
2016 for us heads is turning out not bad. Another great album.
4.5/5 as Phonte once said dope beats dope rhymes what more do yall want
Best Rap Album of 2016!! 5 mics!
Dope album without a doubt. The review doesn’t really do justice to this work of art. Poetry,the gutter soul instrumentals, great listen from start to finish. Neither Apollo nor Sky ever disappoint.
A proper review should demonstrate that more research was done. The Flyest Essence, actually incorporates a sample from a very well known Motown group’s song “much better off” which Dilla also once sampled for Elzhi’s “Love it here”, keeping to the Detroit roots. It was a highlight on the album for me, yet your review makes no mention of the intentionality of this song . This album is a testament to the fact that real and carefully-crafted hip hop music is still being made. Amazing album.
A dope producer plus a brooklin flyest mc give a Classic album.i think Apollo and skyzoo remind me an update Eric B & Rakim version.
A dope producer plus a brooklin flyest mc give a Classic album.i think Apollo and skyzoo remind me an update Eric B & Rakim version.Best 2016 Rap album
This is not stuck in the 90s music or hip-hop with a 90s feel, it is just good music. You shouldn’t be hearing this, you should be listening to this.
So refreshing, I did not skip any track. Soulful and fulfilling.
I don’t think that whether or not an album will fall into the “mainstream” market and gain traction there is a valid statement to the quality of the album itself, or that an album review should be focused on the “niche” that it’s listeners fall into, as though that is a statement toward the craftsmanship of the album.
Simply put, Apollo Brown is dope on the beats, and Skyzoo is dope on the rhymes.
Listen to the album.
5/5
everything i expected..and more
fantastic album from start to finish, this review suck and I’m really growing tired of there reviewer always bringing up this bullshit narrative about boom bap nd classic 90 rap being dead and awesome albums being just…. 15 years late.
Most definitely a 9/10
Skyzoo definitely shows Brooklyn still has impeccable emcees representing