We're well into the first week of October, and Halloween can already be felt along city streets and social media. I myself, consider to be one among many, enamored by this season of mystery and unpredictability—but this year, I encountered a specific mysterious case, and it came in the form of sOuL from the O's Contraband Mixtape.
Beginning in 2000, sOuL from the O's built up a reputation for his erratic musical styles, “sometimes eclectic, sometimes fierce,” but nevertheless powerful in the sense of its immensely-imaginative ambience. Simply put, I was thinking along the lines of “His stuff is really unheard of, but should be heard of”.
Contraband Mixtape features 12 new songs that initially come off as from numerous artists, but that's where I found the brilliance inherent with this obscure, Oakland-based artist: Despite being all over the place with musical styles, he somehow manages to tie them all in and make it appear like one dark, epic saga:
“With its unifying themes of raw emotion, plagued by social ills, haunted by love gone, and two timely interludes, it is able to cover a range of topics without losing continuity or the listener's ear,” reads the description on its webpage, and quite frankly, I simply couldn't agree to disagree. From the tape's ear-rattling first track, to the reggae-vibe I got from the song “DREAMS,” there was no instance wherein I found myself unglued nor disconnected.
That being said, the songs showcase highly-introspective lyricism over various topics, while not brushing off the need to address external matters as well, dishing out hard-hitting hooks pertaining to issues such as police brutality and social inequities. While not much can be searched upon from the artist, I can only resonate to their “ability to be relevant to current events, and remain entertaining all at once.”
Contraband Mixtape also features guest appearances from Stic.man (DeadPrez), Bicasso (Living Legends), and Do D.A.T., as well as showcasing production from DJ D Sharp. SouL from the O's latest project is currently available for streaming and temporarily free for download—make sure you check it out through the link below:
http://s-o-u-l.bandcamp.com/al
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
