Nigerian born rapper MCskill ThaPreacha hashed one down for the history books when he released hip-hop's first ever cinematic album trailer, an intriguing foreshadowing to his highly-anticipated album, Diary Of A Supernatural, which finally dropped on December 16.
And quite frankly, the cinematic value stayed, if not escalated much more upon an initial playthrough. Much of it alludes to the album's production, which by the way stays true to it's “Supernatural” value, thanks to long-time confidante Stormatique who did an amazing job weaving in all twenty tracks to sound, well, otherworldly—from the eerie sounds of “My Way” and “Supernatural”, to the retro-popping “Man in the Mirror”, not to mention weaving in timely reprise tracks and interludes to boost both the album's thematics and it's already cinematic aesthetics.
All of this creates the perfect ambiance as MCskill ThaPreacha masts behind mic and pulpit, dishing out innovative rhymes and cohesive lines that almost feel straight off an actual diary. And coming from an outside perspective, unaware of Skill's previous works, I will say this: In, Diary Of A Supernatural, MCskill ThaPreacha flaunts perhaps what he does best, preach—and quite frankly, I am now a full-fledged believer.
The album is indeed a diary, woven with tales of intrigue, inspiration, and intimate passion, with each track embodying a defining chapter for the speaker while at the same time inviting the listener to inhabit the same experience.
“Dear Daughter” poetically depicts his glorious epiphany after first witnessing his daughter's birth, a personal encounter that could change any man forever. Switching roles, “I'm In Love With You” sees Skill as a forlorn lover, heart-speaking to an unknown lover, “I'm still in love with you/ the whole fam loves you," his passion flowing through intrinsically woven lyrics.
Regardless of roles and personas, however, the album anchors upon the theme of building, Mcskill's anthem call to return to old ways and remembering heritage. On “Dear Diary”, which features spoken word artist REZthatPoet, one simply cannot help but visualize an empowering speech between an African man and his neighbors, “I'm trying to locate the renaissance out of the gentle man becomes n—ga, trying to figure where is the trigger, the gentleman will become the trigger/ African man calling himself n—ga, hmmm okay, n—ga how are you a n—ga/ n—ga you never left African.”
Life is inhabited by good people, with beautiful distinctions and different stories, with that in mind, perhaps we can all conclude that the time to repair and build up our communities is nigh, at least perhaps that's what MCskill is preaching, and that is what I got from the album: nothing short of triggered contemplation only leading up to a revitalizing conclusion.
There is one line that stuck with me, and perhaps resonates to the entire album, “P stands for prayers you gotta do God's work/ And anything you do, you gotta put God first/ don't be obsessed with these devilish cats.” We need more lines like this, and thanks to MCskill ThePreacha's latest album, Diary Of A Supernatural, perhaps many will respond to such a refreshing and empowering calling.
check out MCskill's album is here:
iTunes - http://bit.ly/DOASitunes
Bandcamp - http://bit.ly/DOASbandcamp
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
