Once again High Focus are getting ready to drop another big release adding to their monster collection albums featuring the finest that the UK has to offer. Not long after the the release of The Four Owls' masterpiece Natural Order, Verb T and Illinformed have teamed up to bring us what we are sure will be a Massive hit. His status as a veteran emcee is fully backed up with his newest LP The Man With The Foggy Eyes. Verbs has a busy couple of years touring and gigging at festivals all over the world with the High Focus record label, recording with US heavyweight DJ Premier and doing everything else rappers dream of. After self producing both of his last solo projects Verb decided to recruit one the UK's top producers for his latest offering. IllInformed has produced the entire album bringing his signature Jazz infused Boom Bap sound that fully complements Verb T's laid back style. Having produced beats for Lee Scott, Jedi Mind Tricks, KRS ONE and many more, IllInformed is also the producer for his group Brothers Of The Stone with Leaf Dog and BVA. As you can imagine this collaboration is another great pairing from the HF record label and is a must for UK Hip Hop fans. Both Emcee and Producer have put many years into perfecting themselves as artists and seem to be at a level now where they have found their comfort zone and and can make music of the highest quality so that we, the listeners get to reap the rewards.
The album opens with a bass heavy, head nodding jazz beat for Verb to lay down his opening bars on "Foggy Eyes". As soon as you hear this you will be fully assured this team up is going be something special. Verb T's bars are on point as usual, not just telling a story but creating vivid pictures in your mind with the amazing creativity of his lyrics. After a short interlude you are treated to the first guest emcee of the album the legendary Leaf Dog on "Rolex Dreams". For this track the theme is the aspirations of a young Verb T and how he used to dream of fame, money and living the rapstar life style, acknowledging that he has matured as an Emcee and a person. Leaf Dog gives a similar account of wanting riches and women while trying to break through, but also lets us know what is really important to him now that he is getting to where he wanted to be. The track is backed up with a funky feel good beat that sounds slightly old skool, this is a good thing and helps to back up the stories of Verb and Leaf Dog reminiscing of the good old days.
"Somebody Has To Pay" starts with a moody sax sample that is quickly enhanced by a smooth mellow bass as Verb T educates us on being careful with cash and the reality of living being broke, a nice touch after the track that proceeded. This is followed by "Fuck It Up", a short upbeat track that raises the tempo with its funky guitar riff and drum break.
First Stone
The first single from the album and the first track to get an official video is "First Stone". This is a great upbeat track and a perfect preview of the album. Check the video above. The beat and bars are both incredible and left us thirsty for more when we first listened. Easily a favourite. "Forgiveness" comes next featuring guest bars from Smellington Piff and Moreone. Illinformed uses organ and heavy bass to accompany the trio giving a nice smoky background for the emcees to display their lyrical talent. "Slightly Unhinged" follows with a beat that seems perfectly pitched to set the mood. The menacing keys, deep skitty bass and swung out drums build a trippy tension leading to a tone shift to what sounds like elevator music or a radio advert which just shouldn't work, but is practically seamless. This track is injected with Verbs warped sense of humour and is used to poke fun at commercialism.
Vanity
Another instant stand out track (this album is full of them) is "Vanity", the second song to get an official video. Verb tells a story of ego and how it could be if you let it get out of check. It also features the eagerly awaited return of Dick Trusay for the outro. Great bass line and a soulful jazz vibe on display from IllInformed with the beat for this one. Check the video above. "Say It Again! opens with slick brass sounds and a catchy hook. We hear of Verbs frustration about how he believes his previous EP was perceived by many and how they would rather listen to his older stuff. Another nice touch is the references to his previous work. A real good track backed up with nice jazzy build ups in the beat from Illinformed. Verb T is astonishingly good at using comedy to vent his feelings and this is on full display here. "Stair Lift" is next and features Verbal Highz Chillman. Nice summery vibes on the beat and some amazing bars from both artists. Alongside comedy, Verb T also seems to be brilliant at creating real catchy hooks, some thing that can often be missing in hip hop and is very effective when done well.
"For The Best" wastes no time before the brass stabs and smooth trombone licks and showing us that Illinformed is truly one of the best in the UK at chopping up old jazz records. This tune is all about spitting in the face of adversity, with another sick hook to accompany Verbs wisdom throughout.
"Stepping out a storm cloud with my clothes smoking,"
Such a great line to kick off a track and again showcasing how easily his lyrics fill your head with mental images. This one also has the added bonus of a guest verse from Madlean. "High Street" is a short track that tells the story of trippng out down the high street and taking in the scenery of what we imagine most town centres look like on a boozy Saturday night. A nice short and funny interlude. "Pain Avenue" sees Verb Switch up his delivery for the darker topics covered in this track and it is backed up by an equally menacing beat. "Fade Away" has one of those beats that instantly has you nodding your head, smooth guitar and piano keys with a crisp snare that all work so well together. So laid back and so dam good. More of a serious tone to the lyrics from Verb adding even more variety to this jam packed album.
Trickery FT BVA
The Man With The Foggy Eyes is quite possibly Verb's best work to date, everything from the story telling through his lyrics to the choice of using IllInformed for production gets a massive thumbs up from us. The album is packed with humour and some of the best jazzy, boom bap beats you are going to hear in a long time. It also includes features from Leaf Dog, Moreone, Smellington Piff, ChillMan, Madlean, BVA, Joker Star, Micall Parknsun and Fliptrix. We highly recommend you grab a copy of this as soon as possible. The album is out now on CD/ digital format and will also be available on Limited Edition Vinyl from http://shop.high-focus.com/.
Buy The Cd. http://shop.high-focus.com/product/verb-t-illinformed-the-man-with-the-foggy-eyes-cd-pre-order
Buy the Limited Edition Vinyl. http://shop.high-focus.com/product/verb-t-illinformed-the-man-with-the-foggy-eyes-limited-edition-vinyl-pre-order
Buy the digital download. http://www.junodownload.com/search/?q%5Ball%5D%5B%5D=verb+t
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Reviewed by Double S, NDLC and Dos Gringos.
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