AUDIO: DJ Soko’s “Domino Effect” (full album stream)

DJ Soko’s debut album Domino Effect was released today but I’m here to let you in to to the virtual listening booth to check it out and listen. Soko is originally from Detroit but now calls Brooklyn home and you may be hearing a lot more from him in the years to come. The album can be ordered below from Amazon in the MP3, LP (vinyl), and CD formats respectively.

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FREE MP3 DL: DJ Soko featuring Guilty Simpson & Hassaan Mackey’s “Stand Up”

DJ Soko will be releasing his debut album on August 21st called Domino Effect (Left Of Center) and if this song is any indication of how the rest of the music will be, the title will be appropriate. He brought in Hassaan Mackey and Guilty Simpson to create “Stand Up” and you’re able to download this for free, while supplies last.

REVIEW: The Left’s “Gas Mask”

The photograph used for the cover of The Left‘s Gas Mask (Mello Music Group) is one taken during World War II at a time when governments were telling its citizens to protect itself from the enemy. Back then, people could see the enemy. Today, governments will tell us that the enemy is silent and invisible, and yet its citizens feel as afraid and uncertain as the children in the photo. One might even go so far as to say that the powers that be will tell you that hip-hop is a plague that needs to be destroyed, and that its citizens need to protect itself from the degradation of not only its “teachings”, but the people who create, sell, and distribute it. Is hip-hop a drug and that much of a threat to people and society? Look at the photo and tell me that isn’t a metaphor for what’s going on today, and then listen to this album.

Okay, maybe the messages aren’t as heavy as the cover suggests, but I could be on the money. The Left consists of Apollo Brown, Journalist 103 and DJ Soko and together they are a force that’s not only meant to entertain the heads, but to speak to those who are willing to listen. Just as there are women who are drop dead gorgeous, this is a “drop dead gorgeous album”, in that upon first, second, and seven listens, you can’t help but be blown away by its construction and beauty, even though its music is menacing and sinster sounding. It may not be the world, but songs like “Battle Axe”, “Homage” and “The Funeral” sound more like modern day illuminati than anything people accuse Jay-Z for. The lyrics are drenched in everything from metaphor to direct messages, and even when you think you know what you’re hearing, you’ll question it and ask yourself “is he really saying what he’s saying”? It’s concerned music in a time of concern and in the future, after people stop worrying about the end of the world in 2013, this will be a set of music that will define the early 10’s more than anything you’ll see or hear in a Sprite commercial. If you love hip-hop without thought, don’t bother. If you want something that makes a statement without being cocky, make your way through the entrance and slap on a Gas Mask for safety and comfort. bomb shelter is to the left, watch your step.

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