Let be begin by saying when I first saw the video for Indredable right off the bat I got angry. Why? Because why is that this duo was able to do what they do without the funding of a big budget label, and yet when I turn on the radio or go searching for new artist being released by these major record labels, with these big time producers, ghost writers, and video directors that they can’t do what The Grateful DreaD has done, which is simply put something out authentic.
Indreadable was produced by The Grateful DreaD’s frontman Billa Camp, D.J R.U.I.N on the 1’s and 2’s with guest vocals by Jamal Cole. The songs starts off with what sounds like an old southern blues singers giving a melodic “oohh aayye” sample, and before you even get a chance to get your head around what’s going on you are hit by this head bobbin bass line accompanied by echoic cymbal and Billa Camp verse that basically makes your face twist up with that look of, what the heck am I listening to and why is it so fresh. Billa Camp comes across solid like a brick wall and as accurate as a ninja assassin. Jamal Cole kind of hits you with the blunt force object of a verse that leaves your ears asking you to turn it up. They add this heavy tribal drum line that is just banging. I seriously added Indreadble to my playlist entitled “MyFavs” which is laced with WU, BDP, Tribe, Nas, etc.
The truth be known I have known D.J. R.U.I.N. for quite a long time. We actually grew up in the same area and I consider him a friend of mine. I just want to be clear that my relationship with R.U.I.N has no effect on this review. If it was wack then I would have said it was wack. I would’nt say something is good when it’s not, it would, no pun intended, ruin my credibility.
We were hanging out one day and he was like check this out, and he showed me the Indreadable video. I was shocked. I knew he was a good D.J., but had no clue about The Grateful DreaD. He then invited me to one of there shows at a spot called Schubba’s on the near north side of Chicago. I was impressed by the turn out and how they performed. The show was a fast paced head nod experience. They went through about 10 different songs. Each one as original and crowd pleasing as the next.
In one word; refreshing, that’s how I would describe The Grateful DreaD. A comforting blend of true rugged hip-hop, skateboard thrashers, and more added flavor than a master chef. The video for Indreadable is a lesson in conceptual simplicity. The way the video pulls you right into, not where they are from, not what they do, but who they are. Some cats with some serious skills. Their Sound Cloud page is full of songs that are grounded in hip-hop but you can hear their strong skateboard influence leaking through every crevice of every track. What I like most is that every song is a total separation from the next. Which tells me that musically they think outside the box which is part of what this industry needs. No of the same old washed over scenarios that you hear from 99{41e357fed0c84f9247e7e029c2544c4f4d2795d9dff547b874d0988202651dd4} of the population.
My only knock is that there is another band called the The Grateful Dread and as you all know when I do review I act as if I am knew to this and search artist by using Google and Bing. What I kept getting is info on the other Grateful Dread. Not until I did a youtube search did I find what I was looking for. My suggestion would be to find a way to separate yourself from this other band in case potential fans or promoters and labels can find it easier to contact you.
My opinion 9 out of 10. The reason I don’t give them a perfect score is that I don’t want them to get big heads, hopefully a 9 will keep The Grateful DreaD hungry for perfection. If you want to check them out here are some of their links:
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104256445″ params=”” width=” 100{41e357fed0c84f9247e7e029c2544c4f4d2795d9dff547b874d0988202651dd4}” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
http://www.facebook.com/gratefultrill…
http://www.twitter.com/billacamp
http://www.soundcloud.com/billacamp
http://www.billacamp.com
