"McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!" A Sonic Masterpiece

    I remember when my friend Sweaty, first recommended Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? to me. I was floored. Frankly, I'm as basic as it gets when it comes to rap or hip hop music. I can count on one hand the artists from that region of genres that I enjoy, and one of them is Kanye West who I listen to in shame these days. Regardless, I fell in love with the blend of jazz and rap that Dixon brought to that record, so much so that when it came time to listen to this record I decided not to listen to any of the singles beforehand. After all, for artists I like too much I usually can't resist seeing what singles they're putting out, and for records I care less about I usually don't worry about spoiling myself. Of course, that's not to say that the track-by-track reviews I'm about to do are my first listen, I did want to give this album an initial listen when it first came out, just in case some of the songs took a while to grow on me, so without further ado, my track-by-track review.

Magic, Alive! - McKinley Dixon

Watch My Hands - 70/100 I'd say in terms of intro tracks this song works with the sparse soundstage, it makes this album feel magical but like it's yet to awaken yet. I just don't think I'd listen to it outside of the context of the album though.

Sugar Water (feat. Quelle Chris and Anjimile) - 85/100 Once again my ears are blessed with angelic horns it's like I never left after Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Really the only thing that surprised me about this song was how short it was I didn't even realize it had transitioned to the next song when I first listened to this album, which probably speaks to how I think it's a transition well done.

Crooked Stick (feat. Ghais Guevera and Alfred.) - 50/100 I wouldn't call this a boring song it kept my attention the entire time, but frankly I'm just not that crazy about the chorus or Alfred.'s delivery of it at all. The verses don't do enough to really redeem it either in my eyes so I'm just kind of left there waiting for the next track.

Recitatif (feat. Teller Bank$) - 65/100 I love Dixon's flow and delivery in this song and how it lines up with the jazz beat in part 1. Even if it's a more lowkey I still managed to enjoy it. I'm just not the biggest fan of Part II of this song, it's certainly an interesting contrast but I think I prefer the first part. I also just don't care much about Teller Bank$'s verse if I'm being honest.

Run, Run, Run Pt. II - 80/100 I love the energy that Dixon has in rapping the verses on this song. Do I think it's as good or catchy as Run, Run, Run? No, but I don't think it's trying to be that nor would it probably succeed in doing that, but it's good nonetheless.

We're Outside, Rejoice! - 80/100 Honestly I don't think I've enjoyed this album as much as Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? so far mostly because I felt like that album was catchier than this one. Not to say I don't enjoy the songs as much but I do feel like it's a noticeable difference.

All The Loved Ones (What Would We Do???) (feat. ICECOLDBISHOP and Pink Siifu) - 80/100 Great chorus and topic. I also surprisingly enjoyed the features on this track more than I thought I would especially ICECOLDBISHOP because when I first heard the voice I was concerned it might be a bit out there for me but I enjoyed the verse.

F.F.O.L. (feat. Teller Bank$) - 50/100 Didn't particularly care much for Teller Bank$ or this song to be honest, like it sounds nice enough but that's pretty much it.

Listen Gentle - 80/100 I do love the way the flute just sort of floats throughout this song in the background it really does make the songs live up to the album name. The instrumental passage in this song is also so lovely I could close my eyes and listen to it 100 times over.

Magic, Alive! - 75/100 I'm not saying the chorus vaguely reminds me of Hamilton the musical as an insult but for better or worse it does. I think I enjoy the verses more on this song anyways.

Could've Been Different (feat. Blu & Sharmir) - 80/100 A fantastic way to end the album I think. Once again a good verse from the feature and a catchy chorus all with the typical jazz instrumentation. What more could I ask for?

Final Score: 80/100

    I'm not saying this album doesn't deserve praise, I certainly think it's good but I don't think it's anywhere near a 90 for me to be frank. Though, I'd argue that an 80 is still an impressive score from me considering how much I typically don't care for rap music. Do I think the instrumentals kind of carry the score for much of this album for me? Yeah, definitely, I didn't talk about the lyrical content at much I just don't know how to really talk about it in a way that's interesting. No one needs to hear me pretend to act like I'm in the weeds dissecting these verses. Either way, I'd say the strong performance on both this album and Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? are enough for me to keep an eye on Dixon for the rest of his career, excited to see what else he might have up his sleeve creatively.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 1" What The Hell is This?

Image
      Look, Danny Devito was the only reason this show had any sort of foothold in my mind. I kept on repeating I'm the trash man through many of my younger years, and frankly, after looking at the absurd number of seasons, I've always been wary of starting this sitcom. In fact, I had even given it a shot before this, but no Devito, oddly low quality and format for the time period, and just general wariness had kept me from going past the pilot. Not to mention, you watch the first episode and just ask yourself, is this kind of racist? Is it bad that I might be laughing at how completely racist these characters are? Anyways, I did manage to get past the first episode, and even managed to complete a season, and I can safely say that I now understand what people mean when they point to this show to prove that "cancel culture has not ruined comedy". I mean in only seven episodes, the show decides to deal with racism, gay people, abortion, cancer, underage drinking, a litt...
Read more

"System Of A Down - Toxicity" Stick it Out for the Second Half

Image
      I have in fact tried listening to this album before. I remember Anthony Fantano saying he really loved Toxicity , so I decided to put on Prison Song  at 12 pm, before promptly realizing this is exactly the kind of music I'd rather not listen to going to sleep, and that the song was really on the nose. Other than that I have absolutely no prior experience with System Of A Down other than Chop Suey!  which is a lovely song that Jeff Rosenstock continues to play before every single one of his shows (thankfully). So I suppose I won't pretend to deliberate further because I'm not particularly a big metalhead either, so I doubt any knowledge I might impart would be useful. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. Toxicity - System Of A Down Prison Song  - 55/100 While the chorus and the song in general goes pretty hard, I have to say just the whole delivery of the verses is really holding this song back. Well other than the fact that it's pretty mu...
Read more

"McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?" Living Up To It's Name, and More

Image
      Do I listen to Jazz that often? Absolutely not. Do I know anything about McKinley Dixon? Nope. What I do know is that my friend Sweaty recommended this album, and when I listened to the track Run, Run, Run , Dixon's most popular track on Spotify I was absolutely hooked. All I know is that it is rated extremely high and it's very short for an album, so we'll see how that plays out. And without further ado, my track-by-track review. Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Hanif Reads Toni -  N/A Despite being over 2 minutes long I do think doing a spoken word poem is a cool intro. Especially with the music in the background, it creates this sort of tension and build up for when the music finally kicks in. Sun, I Rise - 80/100 Generally when it comes to rap music I'm not too picky about the songs in the sense that I just need a good beat and/or a catchy chorus to hook me, and the rest will come. I can confidently say that I feel that way about this song. The instrumentation in ...
Read more