Customer Reviews

Okayplayer: True Note 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a good album. You've probably heard better work from just about every artist on this album though (with the exception of Skillz, Little Brother, and Nicolay & Supastition). Most of the material comes off as throw away tracks from the artists' albums. Want an example? Just listen to the 5 year old track from The Roots or listen to "Keep Livin" from Jean Grae (which is actually on one of HER albums). And Dilated Peoples are slowly fading off of my radar. If you own a Dilated Peoples LP or single, then you've heard EVERYTHING Evidence has to say because he never improves. The Dilated track could've been left off of the album and no one would've missed it. And I'm not even gonna get into the wackness that Dice Raw (yes, THAT Dice Raw) brought to the table. Remember that dude that ripped "Clones" on the Illadelph Halflife album? Where is he? Anyway....Heiro and Aceyalone & Madlib come through to drop joints that are good, but they don't stand out at all and they come off as skippable joints. There are strong points on the album that outshine the bad things though. Skillz stands out the most because he has two bangers on the album. "Take It Back" is a typical Skillz track, but hot nonetheless. And "Pastor Skillz" (a parody of a church sermon) is just plain sick. Little Brother (you gotta love these cats) drops two joints with "Shake It" being the stronger of the two. But "On & On" is a strong track too. Blackalicious drops a tight joint that shows Gift Of Gab at the top of his game (as usual). Baby Blak has always been a favorite of mine and he drops more heat over an Adam bomb track. Jean Grae also drops two joints, but "Fall Back" is the only one worth talking about because it's a tight joint while the other one isn't. The track that shines the brightest on the album is called "The Williams" which is performed by Nicolay & Supastition. It's not a lyrical masterpiece, but it's a perfect blend of Nicolay's production and Supastition's lyrics. Truck & Mac drop a good joint, but the hook is suspect. The Chapter also drop a hot joint, but it could've been longer. The album ends on a high note as RJD2 blesses the album with more of his genius.

Overall the album is solid, but if the material was as strong as the lineup was it would've been a great album. Too many of the tracks border on average and the fact that there's a 5 year old Roots track (from the 1999 movie soundtrack "The Wood") really hurts things. As a Roots junkie, I'll buy just about anything with their name on it, so I was expecting some new material. So as you can imagine, I was a little irked when I heard it. I love everything The Roots do and I want to support Okayplayer in any way possible, but I would reccomend that you listen to it before you buy it. There are some gems on the album that make it worth the money, but a large portion of it is skippable. Proceed with caution.

Standout Tracks: On And On, Pastor Skillz, The Williams (My Favorite), K.O. Player, Take It Back, Shake It, Act 2, & Just What Can Happen

Seeing the Okayplayer label made my heart skip a beat. "An album masterminded by ?uestlove? A lineup including Hiero, LB GoG AND the Roots!?" After listening to it, I came out satisfied, but not amazed as I expected. While the tracks by the aformentioned artists as well as the madlib produced second track and RJD2's instrumental are superb a lot were skippable including the old Roots track. Still worth buying.

True Notes Vol. 1 really isnt nearly as good as it could have been. I wanted the album to succeed, and I bought True Notes to support Okay Player, as I respect them more than any other crew in Hip-Hop, but there are simply too many tracks that fall short for this album to be a classic. While Little Brother's The Listening was a fantastic album, and their track on Pete Rock's Soul Survivor II was tremendous, the track they serve on True Notes is bland. The Roots track is actually old, and the Dialated People's track I could do without completely. The Jean Grae and Skillz tracks are gems, but other than that, I cant really say Im impressed with the album as a whole. If you want a banger from Okayplayer, get The new Roots album.

With about the exception of 2 or 3 tracks, this is a top notch effort. Standouts include: Skillz - Take it Back, The Roots - Y'all Know Who, Heoroglyphics - Respect Deez, Nicolay & Supasition - The Williams, both Jean Grey's tracks and Little Brothers tracks(especially Shake It). As for others Baby Blaks, Blackalicious and Aceyalone tracks is kinda cool.

I'm a 36-year-old suburban white boy music fanatic beginning to explore the world of hip hop about 30 years late -- dating from '74 around the time of P-Funk and Earth Wind and Fire, the Ohio Players, Kool and The Gang and (well, a bit later) Grandmaster Flash. For me, an inveterate seeker of the compilation most proud of my Oxford Americans, I look at comps as road maps , not destinations. A good comp'll have, say, 20 artists. Five will turn up to be actually worth seeking out immediately.

So I admit the 19 tracks on Okayplayer True Notes mostly ALL sound, well, refreshing to me in this rock and roll season of whiney emo and processed lunch meat punk rock that regularly vomits forth from MTV. After several hungry listens I find myself:

really loving that piano snippet on Jean Grae's "Keep Livin'" and straight up I will be seeking her. Love the song. She's got kinduva hip hop Aretha thing going on

Nicolay and Supastition's got the insanely catchy "The Williams" and they too are on my radar, but not as highly sought after as Jean Grae.

Truck and Mac: Disposable novelty.

Skillz: "Pastor Skillz" -- kinduva one note joke song filled with references to other artists who are probably better. But his other offering on this comp "Take It Back" is much stronger.

?uestlove. Now I do know about the Roots and ?uestlove's strong critical and commercial rep. But Intro annoys me -- just something in the flow and the dynamic. It lurches along. And Outro is just an instrumental track repeating Intro. Flush it.

Little Brother: On and On -- now THAT's what I like. Got a bit of soul a bit of nice laid back rhythm. Sweet and lazy chorus and I'm talking Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay lazy sweet. A classic to these newbie ears.

Nicolay and Supastition: The Williams -- hey man ain't we all been there "the bill collectors call me by my nickname" Straight up cry of frustration that's still just so catchy and smooth.

So in my estimate the 15.99's well spent because it puts me on the road to wanting to find out more about the new good artists. Jean Grae, look out. I've already got my Lauryn, my Alicia, my Aretha, and my Mary J. Be prepared to step up! Dittos for all the other good ones here. I don't make life easy for you once I think your good.

I just picked up this cd NEW, which is saying a lot for me because I buy almost all my cds used. I could not be more happy with it. As I was hoping, the Blackalicious track is already a classic in my mind, and that is not the only one. The Roots' track is also incredible. There were many artists that I hadn't heard of on the cd and I was also very impressed with them. Overall, this is a great cd with many new tracks from many great artists.

If you like underground and like real hiphop go get this album as soon as possible. This is the hottest summer album so far. Lyrics are tight, beats are on point and the album feature the hottest MC's. The Worst songs are the Aceyalone & Madlib - K.O. Player and Dice Raw - I Do What I Like besides those 2 songs the album is worth listening to. My Fav. Tracks are Little Brother - On & On (Gotta love Little Brother), The 2 Jean Grae joint are tight, Nicolay & Supastition - The William is a real good track love the lyrics, the Roots jam is also off the hook Blackalicious drops a hot song with a catchy corus and finally the Skillz - Take it Back is real good also. Cop the CD.

This review will be short. It's an overall dope CD with only a few bad songs (including the usually consistent Madlib). Remember, look at this CD more so as a collection of songs than an actual "album".

Thank you Questlove....thank you Roots crew....thank you for putting together a cohesive compilation that flows like the Nile! There are some many diverse styles of flow and production displayed on the CD, from all geographical corners. I really appreciated many of the west coast submissions (Blackalicious, hierogliphics, dilated peeps), but Little Brother held it down for the dirty dirty! Jean Grae rips 2 tracks on here with her intelligent flow, and several newcomers hold their own very well. That boy dice Raw just steals the show for me!! He rips I Do What I Like in an almost ODB reminiscent style. Skills also does his thang, and RJD2 blesses us with his heavenly abstract beats.

I had given up on compilations until this.....GO COP THIS!!

THIS IS THE REAL.....HIP-HOP!!!

Awesome Album!!! Everybody comes correct. Beats, Rhymes, Life. This album will give the Hieroglyphics legions of new fans cause their song proves who the hottest group in hip-hop is since Dre from Outkast got all weird.