iHipHop Admin
With Hip-Hop being the global phenomenon that it is, there’s no way to stamp one single solitary face on it anymore like when the genre first kicked off some 30-odd years ago.
With that being said, enter Kero One: An artist/DJ/producer of Asian descent hailing from San Francisco with his sophomore album, Early Believers.
Handling a large percentage of the production himself, he fills the project up with jazzy-esque type melodies, and up-tempo rhythms designed to put your mind and body at ease.
Starting with his introduction of ‘Welcome To The Bay,’ where he chronicles his surroundings, while a harmonious songstress reiterates his points during the hook.
From there, the fast-paced and guitar-riddled ‘Keep Pushin’’ takes full command, as he shows some vocal ability by hitting a few notes of his own.
On ‘Lets Be Friends,’ he discusses just that with lines like, “I’m single, free is my philosophy/you see drama, but not in my glossary/you got baggage, I ain’t getting lost in it/I see your man, and how he tryin’ to caution me.”
Kero continues to display his versatile sound on the Brazilian-themed ‘Bossa Soundcheck,’ which leads right into the slower grooves of ‘Love And Happiness.’
Kero takes a break on ‘A Song For Sabrina’ where his MC’ing is replaced with an instrumental anchored by an array sounds emerging from saxophones, bongos, guitars, and a synthesizer.
The multi-talented artist satisfies the rest of his believers with other ear-friendly material like ‘This Life Ain’t Mine,’ ‘I Never Thought We,’ ‘Stand On The Grind,’ and ‘On And On’ (which is another instrumental track).
Kero One’s Early Believers might not appeal to hustlers trapping on the block, skinny jean wearing hipsters, or the backpackers that want to relive the 90’s all over again, but for the people who are open-minded to stepping out of their comfort zone and trying something new, this is the perfect project to start with—and what better time to start than the present…
Rating: 3.5
