Buzrk - One Last To Arms

Hear The Track Here

I know that people these days haven't much idea of how exciting and fresh hip hop was back in the day. After what seemed like decades of mundane, gazing at your navel turgidity, music suddenly had something to say again and wasn't she about doing just that. Like most major music movements, those early producers, musicians and rappers, changed the world by what they did - and the world of the young inner city African-American male changed with it. While it's true that hip hop has thrown up some greats for the most part, since back in the day, the ratio of good to outright bad has increased dramatically. Whereas in hip hop's heyday the ratio of great to crap (imitators, wannabes, hustlers) was probably 20%; now it's probably closer to 70 or 80%.

Aahh, it was ever the same when music had something to say....

The reason I appear to be in schoolteacher mode is because I love the genre and always have done. It's the reason why - when I listen to hip hop - I want it to at least make me nod my head. About the only thing I get my head to do throughout One Last Call To Arms is to shake from side to side while my mouth screamed 'nooooooooooooooo'. Oh my God, Gilmore, that's a bit sharp innit? Yep, it is but only because creating great hip hop is an incredibly hard genre to master. Hold on, hold on....surely Buzrk is just doing this for fun like the rest of us? Well, fun or not, Soundclick is the closest most people are going to get to a professional standard, and the competition would eat a track like One Last To Arms without pausing for breath.

The beats were provided by Anno Domini who are well respected and popular and I've heard their work and liked it. This is the sort of stuff I am used to listening to when I want to listen to hip hop; dense, complex beats, intricate arrangements and innovative production. So what went on between the original track and what comes out as Buzrk's track? I'm not sure what the original sounds like but I am absolutely certain it's punchier than I hear from this track. A lot of that probably has to do with how Buzrk laid the vocal on top of the track because it doesn't mesh with the track at all; what you have is a dulled down music and a vocal that even though clear, isn't always intelligible. All, as far as I am concerned, critical to whether a hip hop track is going to work or not. However, in his favour, Buzrk is obviously young and new to this, so such tracks can be expected but it wouldn't do to keep on doing it this way. After all, it's all about learning to do it, isn't it?