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{ True Madness Magazine }
Music Reviews
Angle, Not Quite 90 in the Head
One Leg Up Production, ?
By James Eddy
Guess what kids?? They have hip-hop in the Mid-West! And, because of a severe lack of new material coming my way, we have some hip-hop on True Madness! Take that O'Reilly!
Okay, so down to business: ANGLE is pretty damn good at what he does. Of course, he surrounds himself with some pretty talented people, including the real shining star of the whole Mid-West hip-hop scene ANIMOSITY on many of the tracks. This isn't to say that he couldn't do it on his own; probably some of the best songs on the album are Femme Fatale and R.I.P.M.C., both of which the rapper does on his own. However, guest appearances by relative unknowns like Felix and No One really boost the record to good shit.
The thing that makes the album overall endearing is that ANGLE doesn't take himself too seriously, which a lot of rap artists make the mistake of doing. The intro of the CD has him doing a sly jest at the convention of using studio tricks to make your voice sound low, menacing, and perhaps "gangsta." He also shows a healthy sense of humor on Dry Dream, a tune about the antithesis of a wet dream with a pretty infectious beat. In fact, with rare exception ANGLE uses some great beats, the stand out being the jazz track on Ode to Bass. The only problem with the album that I can see is that it seems to get better and better as it goes along, so stick around for a bit and you'll eventually get to the real meat. Hopefully ANGLE will stick with that formula when he releases his next set of tracks.
RATING: 3.75 out of 5
(Note: I'm not the best person to review hip-hop...I just know what I like and so this is just my unenlightened opinion...if you have a different take, send me some reviews, you bitch.
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