Deto-22 and Sketch Tha Cataclysm decided they need to get together to brainstorm and come up with music that would not only represent what they do as individuals, but perhaps let people into what was going on in Connecticut. The end result is something called The Sharing Is Caring EP, and I like the fact that they came out with an EP, so that fans that didn’t like them can move on. Those that do find a liking, they can hold on and prepare for what will be a bigger dose.
Sketch Tha Cataclysm is the man behind the rhymes, and outside of enjoying how he rhymes and what he has to say, it also sounds like he’s very much into the music created by Deto-22, known for his work with Phenetiks. To me, it doesn’t sound flown in, or “here, I’m a hot producer, just rhyme over it since you’re really using my name to sell product, not my beat.” It’s not empty or anonymous, and that’s what I think people will want to hear, some level of mental activity between these two. With Sketch, he’s able to write something that is a means to confront someone for hip-hop supremacy, but he’s also good at writing story rhymes and to get a bit cinematic when trying to write about personal hopes and fears in metaphor, as he does in “Inspired By A Conversation Last Night”
it keeps pulling back everytime i’m at the cusp
the lights are messing with me, this whole room is such
I keep moving, daps are plenty and I tremble at the touch
these people keep talking, I wish I didn’t feel them
this music’s overwhelming I continue with my reeling
breathing, choking, as their smoking hits my heels and
with contact that could have your tims pushing off the ceiling
time to swim in this water bottle
in hopes to stop my mind from sifting, drifting in its hallows
piling on the misery to forget it all tomorrow
I need to wipe the maps of these directions that i’ve followed
fuck the stresses, its time to face it
and put the stones through this glass box attempt to break it
clutch the amplified and vocalize my cages
standing naked, with these walls of pressure buried in the pavement
It might come off a bit like Buck 65, but by saying that, it means that I do hear someone who is willing to push himself forward and not reply on whatever hip-hop templates may exist. In “Things That Start With H” (which is coincidentally the 8th song, appropriate since H is the 8th letter of the alphabet) Sketch is doing some damage over a beat with a slight rock/metal edge, but it feels more like Mike Shinoda than Fred Durst, and again, he sounds comfortable. I like it when an MC is not only willing to rhyme over anything and everything, but because of his listening habits and adaptation of it through hip-hop, he knows how to fill the pockets.
Then there’s Deto-22, who is a perfect match for Sketch. As a producer, I know what it means to get your word across and express yourself through music, what I hear is much more than just an assemblage of beats, basslines, and carefully selected samples, it’s all of that. What he does with Sketch is, if we are to use a comic boon analogy, pencils around the edges and fills in the colors to make Sketch’s colorful lyrics more vivid. Sketch is also a producer too, and then you’ll also hear Deto-22 drop some nice rhymes. I would have loved to have heard more old school-style rhymes where they would trade off lines, but people would’ve said “oh wow, another group trying to copy the Beastie Boys” but that style existed long before the Beastie Boys switched over from hardcore to hip-hop.
The EP ends with a Deto-22 instrumental in the form of “Welt In 12”, which would fit in with everyone from Lady Gaga to Black Eyed Peas, and that’s not something to laugh it, because if there’s a chance he can work and collaborate with other artists, he’s going to go for it. On the plus side, he’s good at it too. Sketch shows a respect for writing and comprehension, he’s an MC that isn’t just there to be the lyrical hi-hat for anyone, he’s the full drum set and he’s laying anchor. What they’re trying to day with The Sharing Is Caring EP is that yes, open yourself and share, be it talent, ideas, and concepts, musical or otherwise, you may find more about yourself than you did at the starting line.
Perhaps they’ll continue doing EP’s in small doses, or we’ll be patient and wait for a full length, but I also think they’re of a generation that doesn’t want to hold themselves back due to the conventions of what came before. I see them as adventurists, and I hope they proceed with anxiety and fearlessness.
(The Sharing Is Caring EP is scheduled for release on November 3rd, and will be available through LittleAx.com.)
It is nice when an artist uses continuity between songs and projects. Case in point: the new EP by Corina Corina is called Come Again, which features remixes of songs from her album, The Eargasm. In other words, if you were able to obtain pleasure with the album, you may be able to have it again with revisions of the familiar.
This Is Book's Music 