I was blessed with an advanced copy of Cas One's second full-length album The Monster And The Wishing Well. I felt like I was sitting on an incredible new drug and I couldn't wait to give you all this feeling. This record will breathe life into the forever-thirsty masses of knowledge seekers and the underground free radicals alike. It's truly refreshing without the harmful side effects of monotony because it's all natural with no record labels involved, just Cas One and his crew.
Cas definitely doesn't walk alone through this 16-track composition. Two of his main production crew consists of his long time friends Eric Hunter and an electro wizard known as Figure, all three of them are straight out of Evansville, Indiana. Unusual suspects Bitter Stephens, Prolyphic & Metermaids and Tommy Jamin & Proe harness additional lyrical energy. Hi-fi acoustic crooner Kristoff Krane spreads some love on track four Never Runner also featuring Ceschi Ramos (of Fake Four, Inc.) and vinyl chopper Wick-it practices some turntable jujitsu on track 3, "Chasing Greatness." Any track featuring a real DJ gets automatic points from me these days. I find 95% of so called hip-hop albums these days disturbingly lacking in this department.
Several tracks like numbers, 1. "Long Walk," 3. "Chasing Greatness" 6. "Vultures" and 9. "I Am What I Am" hit you with a funky almost throwback vibe with a modern edginess. This layer of the album has Cas flexing lyrical muscle and showing us why he deserves shine on the microphone. These are get up tracks that blow your speakers. Cas One can definitely keep your head nodding while pushing thought provoking lines through your cerebellum. He also spits one of the best "motherfuckers" in hip-hop since Dr. Dre. Maybe that's some shit only I would notice because I love to fucking curse, but it's all good times nonetheless.
Guitar stings, piano chords, rich real live vocals and expertly placed melodic samples hold another layer woven into this menagerie of expression together. Track number 2. "The Get Down" is an upbeat dark comedy and there is a wicked artsy video already out (http://www.urb.com/tag/cas-one/). Tracks 4. "Never Runner," 5. "Cold Spell," 11. "Empty Nest," 12. "Reasons," 14. "Opiates" and 15. "October" celebrate the human spirit. This is where Cas purges middle class life, pseudo fame and 10 years in the rap game out of your stereo. He'll paint you a picture of your own day. After these songs you'll be relating to him like he's one of the guys from your job, or even the cool barback that will pour you a drink when the bartender is being a douchy poon hound at the end of the bar for ten minutes.
The whole tapestry is held together by a rocked out vibe over driving to slow rumbling beats. Tracks 7. "Rabbit Named Wolf," 8. "Out Of The Light" and 13. "Into The Dark" could easily be played on alternative rock radio. One of my favorites on the album is an entity all it own. Track 10. "Strutbounce" is a bouncy ego booster seemingly inspired by someone Cas One has frequently shared a stage with; Brother Ali. The Monster In The Wishing Well is a great album that walks the line beautifully between rapping about living and living that rap life.
By Chris Hensley for RAPstation.com
Cas One - The Monster And The Wishing Well album review
I was blessed with an advanced copy of Cas One's second full-length album The Monster And The Wishing Well. I felt like I was sitting on an incredible new drug and I couldn't wait to give you all this feeling. This record will breathe life into the forever-thirsty masses of knowledge seekers and the underground free radicals alike. It's truly refreshing without the harmful side effects of monotony because it's all natural with no record labels involved, just Cas One and his crew.
Cas definitely doesn't walk alone through this 16-track composition. Two of his main production crew consists of his long time friends Eric Hunter and an electro wizard known as Figure, all three of them are straight out of Evansville, Indiana. Unusual suspects Bitter Stephens, Prolyphic & Metermaids and Tommy Jamin & Proe harness additional lyrical energy. Hi-fi acoustic crooner Kristoff Krane spreads some love on track four Never Runner also featuring Ceschi Ramos (of Fake Four, Inc.) and vinyl chopper Wick-it practices some turntable jujitsu on track 3, "Chasing Greatness." Any track featuring a real DJ gets automatic points from me these days. I find 95% of so called hip-hop albums these days disturbingly lacking in this department.
Several tracks like numbers, 1. "Long Walk," 3. "Chasing Greatness" 6. "Vultures" and 9. "I Am What I Am" hit you with a funky almost throwback vibe with a modern edginess. This layer of the album has Cas flexing lyrical muscle and showing us why he deserves shine on the microphone. These are get up tracks that blow your speakers. Cas One can definitely keep your head nodding while pushing thought provoking lines through your cerebellum. He also spits one of the best "motherfuckers" in hip-hop since Dr. Dre. Maybe that's some shit only I would notice because I love to fucking curse, but it's all good times nonetheless.
Guitar stings, piano chords, rich real live vocals and expertly placed melodic samples hold another layer woven into this menagerie of expression together. Track number 2. "The Get Down" is an upbeat dark comedy and there is a wicked artsy video already out (http://www.urb.com/tag/cas-one/). Tracks 4. "Never Runner," 5. "Cold Spell," 11. "Empty Nest," 12. "Reasons," 14. "Opiates" and 15. "October" celebrate the human spirit. This is where Cas purges middle class life, pseudo fame and 10 years in the rap game out of your stereo. He'll paint you a picture of your own day. After these songs you'll be relating to him like he's one of the guys from your job, or even the cool barback that will pour you a drink when the bartender is being a douchy poon hound at the end of the bar for ten minutes.
The whole tapestry is held together by a rocked out vibe over driving to slow rumbling beats. Tracks 7. "Rabbit Named Wolf," 8. "Out Of The Light" and 13. "Into The Dark" could easily be played on alternative rock radio. One of my favorites on the album is an entity all it own. Track 10. "Strutbounce" is a bouncy ego booster seemingly inspired by someone Cas One has frequently shared a stage with; Brother Ali. The Monster In The Wishing Well is a great album that walks the line beautifully between rapping about living and living that rap life.
By Chris Hensley for RAPstation.com
