Dahlak has done it again. He’s released not only another album, he’s created it in the most obnoxious manner! The collaborations, the production, and the lyrics are all of very high quality. And top to that, he’s created the entire album off the theme of giving respect to his mentor Mr. Kanye West.

Dahlak has one of the most unique flow style in the hip hop game. It’s a cross between quality Def Poetry and new age hip hop brought by artists like Lupe Fiasco + Kanye West all mixed with a touch of Bay Area swagger. And on some tracks, I think he got the speed of Twista. But the difference being that I can understand Dahlak’s lyrics. And that I like them too!

What I didn’t understand was why this 23-track set was released as a mixtape and not a full-length album. You can tell there was alot of intention and time spend on putting this together. The time spent on remixing the samples, the artists that stopped by the studio who helped collaborate on the tracks (N.I.C., Plush Lush, Adriel from iLL-Literacy, Nico, etc), and the high quality lyrics are very different than the typical mixtape. And typical mixtapes are not so well polished and definitely do not flow as well. So my only guess is that the production was not totally original (samples of Kanye’s original music) and releasing that as an official LP would not be kosher. And possibly because mixtapes are the new form of passable media that don’t have the barrier of costs + remixing + getting distributed. Not that I care how it was released. Whatever helps get this music to the listener is what makes a difference. And since iLL-Literacy has been doing really well as crew and a small music label/business, I’ll love to find out their results from releasing the music this way. How about another interview with Dahlak?

Switching from business + marketing over to the actual music, I’ll have to say that Dahlak has definitely grown since his first album Dual Consciousness. He’s more patient with his lines, he spits about a larger set of topics, and you can tell he’s having alot of fun while making the music. I think I heard him laugh on a few tracks. Another thing I really like is how he introduces tracks or set of tracks. Makes you as the listener feel like you’re apart of the music and journey of making the music instead of an outsider listening it. That makes a world of a difference to people who really appreciate music.

So a few tracks I really liked since it was really personal to me were:

• Do It: Being a college dropout and taking the opportunity to go back to school to finish my degree this year alone, I really vibed with this one. Dahlak spits about how he was able to travel, work, write, and still go to school all at the same time. People like Dahlak don’t talk about it and the struggle to do it all. They just do it and that’s it. Less talk, more action.
• Commencement: It’s a straight up dance track that can get you hype. I love dancing and this is definitely one that I could get down to. Especially the hype ups in the middle of the track. That gets me wanting to break!
• So Uncool: Reminds me of all the things I used to do to look and be cool back in highschool + early college. Dahlak + Nico + Adriel + Ruby (I think she jumped on at the very end) all brought it back up but in funny + very real kinda way.

Along with the theme of being a tribute to Kanye West and his dropout trilogy, Dahlak carries the theme from Dual Consciousness of Boondocks quotes. Mainly Riley from The Boondocks. Love to see a theme and having two of them that work so well together makes this mixtape not only unique, but obnoxious. It’s got our official seal of approval!

Download the full album absolutely for free from Dahlak’s official website. It drops today!

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