Customer Reviews

The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.

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

 

 

Late in 2007, Michigan emcee, One Be Lo, dropped his highly anticipated follow up to his (IMO) classic album, S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M., "The R.E.B.I.R.T.H". The album title is an acronym (as are all of his albums) for Real Emcees Bring Intelligent Rhymes To Hip Hop, and he sure follows that motto. For those who haven't heard One Be Lo, he reminds me of a mix between Nas, Ice Cube, and Talib Kweli. His lyrical style is really amazing. I personally believe he is one the best emcees in the game today. Anyways, back to the album, 'Lo's lyrics are no doubt terrific throughout. He shows off his lyrical skills, while also being political and a storyteller. Although they may have faded a bit from his previous album, they still hit hard. The production on this album is actually really good, but samples are way overused. The actual beats are fine, but there is over 60 seconds of samples of others speaking on just about every song. One exception of this is the final track, "Hip Hop Heaven", which is a beautifully put together track. One Be Lo doesn't bring along any of his Subterraneous label mates around to rhyme this time around. Or any guests appearances for that matter. Overall, this album is a great listen; it gets even better if you fast forward through the last 45 seconds or so of every song, as that is usually just sampled talking. If you like One Be Lo, or have never heard him before, try this out. You won't be disappointed.

Lyrics- 9/10
Production- 7.5/10
Guest Appearances- N/A
Overall Sound- 8/10

4.08

-Shaun B.

One Be Lo's "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M." Was my favorite album of 2005. So naturally, my expectations for "The R.E.B.I.R.T.H." were high. Notably, this album is quite a bit shorter than it's predecessor. One Be Lo's lyrics don't sound quite as personal this time around, nor is his word play any sharper. Also, the production brought forth by Texture (of the Lab Techs), K Krueser, Memo (of the Molemen), Jake One, Bean One, Vitamin D, Eric G., D.L. Jones, & 14KT (of the Lab Techs) leaves the album a bit scattershot, and isn't nearly as cohesive as the beats on "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.", which were mostly produced by the Subterraneous camp - Magestik Legend, Decompoze, & One Be Lo himself. There's no doubt this albums carries a different vibe.

There are plenty of solid joints here. "Rebirth" & "Born & Raised" are a great 1-2 punch to get the album moving. And they are a couple of my favorites. Some of the production gets a little played out, like the samples from Mr. T (from Rocky 3) that get used on at least 2 tracks. My favorite joint here is "House Rules" produced by Texture (of the Lab Techs). The beat is absolutely banging, and it displays One Be Lo at his best.

Overall, the over abundance of producers aren't meshing well with Lo in the end. Lo is on point, and brings some nice messages to the album, but also feels a little disconnected in the overall feel. A nice album for 2007, but not as scathing as his previous work.

One Be Lo is the best rapper you should have heard of. I bought the first album because I wanted to try something different. I bought this album because i wanted something great and i wasn't disappointed. With all the radio play music having the same sound it's great to run across a throwback who has his own groove and who you will instantly recognize.

did not like most of the beats not as good as previous cd or binary

"Real Emcee's Bring Intelligent Rhymes To Hip-Hop"... that's the acronym for One Be Lo's (a.k.a. One Man Army)newest release, The R.E.B.I.R.T.H., and if there's any truth to the title (and deep down you know there is)then there aren't too many "real emcee's" left. Thankfully the MC's that do strive to drop knowledge while rhyming (or at least stay interesting)do it well and can normally make up for the masses and their paint by numbers wackness. One Be Lo is one of these lyricists fighting the good fight to keep you entertained and listening. Those familiar with any of One Be Lo's previous work can rest easy in knowing that as far as lyrics, delivery, voice and general direction go, it's all here and on point as per usual, while those that weren't in the know... now you are! What has changed this time around is that he's shifted his production from normal in-house beatsmiths The Trakezoids to a mixture of underground known and lesser known producers like Jake One and Vitamin D to 14 KT and Texture (who actually steps up to produce my favorite track off the album entilted "Headlines"). Not every beat on here is great, in fact the first three are about as unmemorable as anything OBL has ever spit on before... thankfully with an MC of his caliber the beat can get away with playing the wall in the background occasionally (which begs the question... should he have paid for the beats OR should the beat makers have paid for his vocal presence?). That being said, the beats on here are never really bad either, maybe just occasionally a little bland (and considerably different from previous releases). I can understand his decision to make a progressive move forward and go with a different production set, but it still seems to have hurt the overall quality by not including any production work from The Trackezoids (who along with some self-production had up until this point helped to define his sound)? Probably my least favorite release from One Be Lo so far, of course when everything else you've ever done is 5 star material, you can still end up with one of the best discs of the year even when not at your best... and he has! Here's the complete tracklisting with production credits for those curious (isn't this Amazon's job?).
1.) Rebirth produced by Texture
2.) Born & Raised produced by K Kruz
3.) Keep It Rollin' produced by Memo (and featuring Marvin Scruggs)
4.) Smash produced by Jake One
5.) Headlines produced by Texture
6.) War produced by Bean One
7.) Don't Sleep produced by Vitamin D
8.) House Rules produced by Texture
9.) Snap Shot produced by Eric G.
10.) The G Gap produced by Jake One
11.) Gray produced by D.L. Jones
12.) Hip Hop Heaven by 14 KT
13.) Mass Of Monkeys by Bean One (starts 20 ticks after track 12)

Literally my favorite rapper of all time, this is a TIME of EXCITEMENT. I can tell to after listening to the album, One Be Lo's "The R.E.B.I.R.T.H." several times that it is a classic but not in the same realm as his precursor, "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.". Sorry to disappoint One Be Lo fans, but we all know S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. is to One Be Lo as Illmatic is to Nas. But, One Be Lo comes out hard with amazing lyrical flow and some of the hottest production in the Hip Hop world. I think One Be Lo again walks away with best hip hop album of the year. For all you Chingy and Lil Wayne hip-POP fans, this is NOT a place for you.

So, where do I start? The R.E.B.I.R.T.H. is very inspirational from tracks like the catchy "Rebirth", "Born And Raised", the jazzy "Keep It Rollin'", the thunderous "Smash", the heartfelt "G Gap", the socially conscious "Gray" and the touching "Hip Hop Heaven". The last track seemed reminsicient of Tupac's "Thug's Mansion". The lyrics hit you hard with One Be Lo's passionate voice. The production seemed to have evolved from "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M." which was filled with jazzy and mellow tones while "R.E.B.I.R.T.H." is filled with symbol crashes and aggressive beats in the fashion of MF Doom. Lyrically, One Be Lo is always on top of his game with his intellectually ingenious and socially conscious material. This is Hip-Hop with substance, music so thick that it's impenetrable unlike the recycled trash you hear on the radio everyday.

The only thing that surprised me was One Be Lo's lack of collaboration. No Magestik, no Decompoze, no Senim Silla...pretty much no members from Trackezoids. It was indeed a solo album that was well-done but could have been bettered with collaborations from a solo singer or fellow progressive rappers. Nevertheless, the album is still an A+ and you really can't knock on perfection. Not a surprise from my all-time favorite rapper!

this is a must buy and one of the greatest hiphop albums of the year

Dope Beats...Dope Rhyme's....Soulful Samples...Production Perfection...Smoother Than Sonogram Track For TRack..One Be Lo Has Done It Again....Every CD He Touches Turn's Out Dopeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!