Today is Too Ordinary For "Keep It Real" by Swade (Prod. by Thelonious Martin & IZ of The Burns Twins)

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Today is too ordinary of a day to receive such a lyrically brawny, soul cut from the production minds of Thelonious Martin and IZ (of the Burns Twins), accompanied by Swade's pen game.

The trio's loosie, Keep It Real, somehow rides close to the exclusive way that only vinyl can. The track's R&B sample (dug up as the chorus) reinforces the rhythm started by Keep It Real's soulful, smoked kicks and cotton bass. The Pollyanna chord loop sounds as if it continues to rise and move in unison regardless of results. However, the most stank-face part of the beat to me lives in the cuts and scratches of the background vocals. The way the vocals add to the rhythm and break up the beat periodically draws resemblance to J Dilla's Last Donut of The Night, in which Jay Dee heavily sampled Al Goodman's vocals to a similar affect. Hearing that sampling technique, the pattern in the drums and the intensifying siren like the one in Gobstopper has me under the impression that production ran under Thelonious Martin's direction. And to damn good results.

Swade's verse is the product of having soul behind you. His metaphor/wordplay heavy-hitter verse, I'm looking at that cold "Little street fighter I Hadoukened out the lion's den" line, is a verbal Herculean effort that never strays from the grind. His flow and cadence reminds me a bit of Fat Joe's. Swade spits with this street charisma that can paint his city quite vibrantly.

Keep It Real's rhythm is incredibly tight. Swade bars out some light work in under two minutes. If I'm keeping it real, what's not to like?

Listen to Keep It Real below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com
          

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