Customer Reviews

Year of the Beast (Bonus Dvd)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was yet another chance for me to catch up on an artist that I have missed, since this album dropped this year. After hearing this, needless to say, I'm intrigued to hear more from him. C-Rayz Walz has a voice that is a cross between Sadat X and Pharoahe Monch. Also, he has a personality like none other. That's what everyone kept reiterating on the DVD: how much personality C-Rayz has. The truth is, you can't say enough about his personality and charisma. It happens to be his greatest asset as an MC.
On a sticker for the cd, it quotes someone saying, "Nobody wrecks a stage like C-Rayz Walz." Judging by the footage on the DVD, he seems rather laid-back on stage so I'm wondering how that claim was made. Anyways, I bet C-Rayz has the personality and look to gain fame on BET and MTV, but thankfully he chooses to make his music too thought-provoking and personal to lower himself to their level. The dude's got absolutely some of the best metaphors you'll ever her. That seems to be his bread and butter when he's rhyming.
On to the cd, the second track is alright, but the highlight area of the album is #'s 3-7 (all essential songs). I would say that "TheRhymeIntervention" and "Paradise" are the strongest out of those. The only other true standouts are the personal/introspective "Carefree" and the smooth collaboration with M-1 (Dead Prez) on "Black Soap." "MusicTakeovah" is a decent change-of-pace, but not that memorable, and he tackles a tired underground concept with suprising freshness and humour on "Pink." He goes for a sensitive topic over a rock beat on "BlackOut" and makes his point, but the song isn't overly praiseworthy IMO. The last track has a very tight beat.
Despite the number of different producers, for the most part the production works, and works well. Most of it is dark, which seems to be what C-Rayz works best with anyways. This album is not easily forgettable, yet I wouldn't quite claim it as in the top-5 of this year. C-Rayz is as "conscious," witty, charismatic, and hilarious as anyone else out there. He seems to be quite the song-writer as well. This "Year of the Beast" has definitely made its mark in 2005 and should not be ignored by any true lover of music.

As with all C-RAYZ releases you get an mc jam-packed with skills, delivery, passion, charisma and heart. What you also get is an original sounding album EVERYTIME. Whether it be to do with his choice of producers or his choice of topics its always different to every other mc out now, which is always a good thing. Unfortunately that "originality" doesnt always come off and in turn actually makes it very hard to get into alot of his stuff like on the "Ravipops" album. However this time round, more times than not, he hits all of his intended targets. Tracks like the opener "R'Thentic", "FirstWordsWorse", "Knowledge", "StreetReppin", "Paradise" and the truely amazing "SayWerd" are examples of this. I always find RAYZ much more entertaining solo rather than with afew guests, he just has so much mic presence that you want to hear only him. Other strong joints are "WalkThrough", "MusicTakeovah", "Carefree" and "BlackSoap". Not to say the other tracks are weak, they just didnt satisfy my hunger as much as the these did. Well worth copping, for something original that these crunk/jiggy idiots could only DREAM of being able to do!!

believe the hipe, c-rayz is a beast in the hip hop sceen. nyc finest, down with the brooklyn sceen which hip hop was born. c-rayz is not concerned with destroying, but like others such as krs-one, c-rayz is about uplifting the streets "i walk through the getto holding my dic-tonary others are mad & pissed" not scense the blastmaster krs-one has someone really been this vivatious about hip hop & the music & people surrounding it, knowledge reigns supreme over nearelly everyone. he is also the only other rapper besided krs-one who ive ever heard rap about Mumia Abu-Jamal who is an award-winning Pennsylvania journalist who exposed police violence against minority communities. On death row since 1982, he was wrongfully sentenced for the shooting of a police officer. New evidence, including the recantation of a key eyewitness, new ballistic and forensic evidence and a confession from Arnold Beverly (one of the two killers of Officer Faulkner) points to his innocence! Mumia had no criminal record. see krs-one self titled cd free mumia. the beats on this cd are also amazing featuring up beat hip hop & down tempo beats similar to gorillaz tacktics, using real instruments with samples & effectz. c-rays videos may not get mtv play time but when mtv needed a made couch for their show of the same name, they called apon c-rayz to help a white highschool nerd turn into the freestyle spit king. the dvd is also awesome which takes you from meeting people who also agree that c-rayz is a beast of this hip hop music, live performance, & 2 videos.
anyfans of gorillaz, Lateef & the Chief, Aesop Rock, metabolics (wordsound), krs-one, channel live. he reprosents the real hip hop

He is a beast on the mic, quite revolutionary and I love his guest appearances Jean Grae, Vordul Mega, etc. I definitely love his spontaneity. His short comings are few but mostly have to do with the fact that you have to pay real close attention to what is being said and I guess that could be summarized as "clarity", that needs improvement. But the concepts, floe, creativity is all on point. I rate this 4.5. If you love reality, conscious tracks get this.

Another good album by C-Rayz Walz. But to tell you the truth, I wasnt feeling it as much as I was feeling Ravipops. I think the production on this album was decent, pretty good in some parts and kinda wack in some parts. Lyrically, C-Rayz does good of course. So imma give this album a 4 starts. I still recommend Ravipops more. Well thats all I gotta really say about this album, decent production, good lyrics. Thought it coulda been better. But it still gets 4.

My Top 5 Songs
1.First Words Worse
2.Knowledge
3.Rhyme Intervention
4.Street Reppin
5.Music Take Ovah

arguably the best rap album to grace us in 2005, everything down to the production and guest appearances and his lyrics/content are all superb, buy this cd and you won't be disappointed

C-Rayz Walz has been an underground legend ever since hes been in the game. With this album, I'm hoping walz will get the respect he deserves. This album has a lot of meaning and is some of his best material to date. I like the production but I believe that Walz lyrics make this album. Very good concepts, humor, and rhymes to boggle the mind. I will be seeing walz in a week so I home he plays a lot of stuff off this new album.

Songs to check out-First Words Worse, Street Reppin, Knowledge, Pink, and Black Out

The battle champion is back with his official sophomore LP. Walz as a rapper is an amalgamation of several styles. We all know that he is a proven battle emcee with more wins than we can count. But on his album he breaks off into other styles equal parts gangsta & conscious, but always dope. C-Rayz comes through on this album with a mix of beats that show the second coming of Def Jux. Most of the producers are cats that I've never heard of but I think that we will all be checkin for em after listening to this album. The lyrical topic's he touches on is wide. He discusses the problems with race and skin color in this hip hop game on "Blackout". He and Vordul Mega get gully on "Street Reppin". Then he flips it and attacks all the wannabe gangsta's out their on "Pink". He does not let up once on the album always spittin that raw and real sh*t for ya brain, and overall he succeeds in continuing the monstrous year that Def Jux is having by delivering an album that will make it onto several top ten year end lists

Once again, Definitive Jux doesn't disappoint (I start a lot of reviews like that). I wasn't a "huge" fan of C-Ray's debut studio effort "Ravipops". It was pretty good, but not up to par with many Def Jux releases. Well, I'm pleased to say that "Year Of The Beast" is better, and deserves the spotlight. It took me a few spins to get used to his style and message. First of all, his flow isn't overly impressive. But he does have some mad mic presence, and his rhymes contain a lot of substance, not to mention his flow is very unique. He is also a good songwriter, with very personal, witty, humorous, and street-smart lyrics. It's hard to find an MC with all these qualities nowadays.

Maybe it's just me, but like "Ravipops", nearly every track is produced by a different person, and all but 3 tracks have guest rappers on them. I'm inclined to say that there are too many collaborators, but the album actually flows together pretty good. Nevertheless, I would be very interested in hearing only C-Rayz and a producer, since he is such a innovative and introspective emcee. Going down the list, we catch guest vocal appearances from El-P, Rob Sonic, 4th Pyramid, Vordul Mega, Pudge, Jean Grae, Jeanine, The Angel & The Preacher, M-1 (Dead Prez), Budda Belly and Honest John. Then you have your slew of producers; R'Thentic, Catch22 & E-Cleazy, Aesop Rock, DJ paWL, El-P, Belief for BeliefMusic, Khiladi, Emile, MYK Defy, and C-Rayz Walz himself. Looking at that list, it hardly seems like a "C-Rayz Walz" album; but he actually keeps the spotlight on himself for the most part (a good thing). My favorites are "First Words Worse," "Knowledge," "Street Reppin," "Walk Through," "Blackout," and "Black Soap".

C-Rayz Walz offers a lot more to hip-hop than your first impression may convey. This is definitely and album that gets better as you learn the lyrics. But C-Ray's exuberant personality makes it worth every penny.

Best CD to drop in 2005 without a doubt. C Rayz is one of the illest rappers i've ever heard and the beats on this thing are f---ing crazy, Ace Rock delivers a nice beat on track 3 "Knowledge". and El-p cooks up a heater on my favorite track "Paradise", Walz even produced a song on here that is a true banger (#14 I forgot the name of it). This is the kind of CD you can listen to over and over and you'll hear something new that will bug you out everytime. The bonus track is nice as well, its Vordul 4th Pyramid and of course C Rayz together forming a group called Trinity, hopefully they do an album together soon. The DVD is really nice also aside from the live songs cutting out halfway through, its pretty thoro. Do yourself a favor and check this out ASAP.