Artist: Sean Born
Album: Behind The Scale
Label: Mello Music Group
Genre: Hip-Hop : Rap
UPC: 659123022729
Territory: World
Release Date: 2.7.12
Sean Born, the DMV rapper, has been building his new album for the past few years and is ready to reveal his work. You may remember him from his appearance on the Apollo Brown produced “The Trenches” with Hassaan Mackey on the Daily Bread album. This rugged new project from Low Budget’s Sean Born is guaranteed to knock people back with its brash lyrics depicting street life at its gritty coldest alongside the heavy soulful production of Kev Brown, Oddisee, Dunc of DTMD, Quartermaine, and Kenwood.
One could argue that rap is social commentary at its finest. Theoretically, it’s about real life stories at the ground level, told by people who live the existence they glamorize. Sure, the rappers aren’t bemoaning racial injustice or decrying the school system, but they shed light upon the ugly aspects of everyday life: finding ways to pay the light bill and wondering from where the next meal will come. But all too often these days, those messages are lost in a sea of formulaic production that fails to your attention. Not so with Born’s gritty project, a boastful recording of percussive boom bap and expansive funk rhythms, all punctuating the MC’s brutally honest look into the drug game and its harsh entrapments. Certainly, there’s violence and untimely death, but Born’s lyrical fluidity adds a nostalgic element to the drama, his gruff abrasiveness painting a vivid picture of despair. And he doesn’t waste time, either: seven of the album’s 13 songs are in the two-minute range.
Keep peeling the onion, and Born reveals himself as a simple man with a simple goal: “I ain’t tryin’ to be a kingpin, n****/Real talk, I’m just tryin’ to pay rent,” he says on “Lights On”. That yeoman’s approach solidifies the album’s authenticity and captures vividly the desolation of Prince George’s County, a diverse suburb of Washington, D.C. “Cases build while the bodies pile up/Uncle’s cookin’ dope, little cousins vile up,” Born rhymes on the cinematic “Queen Anne”, a blend of trickling guitar chords over a horn-heavy thump. Elsewhere, he chastises fame on “Skeez” and pays homage to the grind on the exceptional “Pluck ‘Em Off.” In fact, Born’s song titles are quite telling — “Go Hard,” “Murdaland,” “Take It And Run,” among others. Overall, Behind The Scale channels Raekwon’s classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx as a captivating saga centered on three main topics: drugs, crime, and violence. The varied production plays a major role in Born’s success, but his offbeat flow is a flawless centerpiece for the menacing soundtrack.
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Tags: Apollo Brown, Mello Music Group, Oddisee, Sean Born
