Damion ICE Kyng - da Finisher

Hear The Track Here

A completely new Soundclick name to me, Damion ICE Kyng is - as you may have suspected - a rap artist from one of the prime stomping grounds of the genre back in the day: NYC in general and the Bronx in particular. Having lived in NY for 10 years during the 1980's and working in studios I had chance to hear some of the finest rappers of the time and accordinly grew a taste for the style that still holds me in thrall when I hear it done well. Of course, these days the whole world and his brother claim to be rappers and the sad truth is that many of them just don't cut it - at least not in the old school style where words and flow were EVERYTHING.

The first thing that will become evident within seconds of starting da Finisher is that here is an artist who is struggling to get his sound down. There is an absolutely massive bass hum at the start of the track that you need to be aware of if you want to save your woofer permanent damage. Moreover, as the track develops, it is obvious that the vocal is recorded very hot, whereas some of the female backing vocals get completely lost in the track. Still, those are technical matters and - as such - never really play that much of a part in my final judgement of a hiphop/rap track,

What does play a part is lyrical flow, interesting musical ideas and the ability to stitch it all together to make a satisfying whole. On that score Damion has done exceptionally well. The underlying music track, courtesy of Real Cool Ethan, is an excellent melange of sound; orchestral, beats, vocal interjections that work to lift the track above the usual hiphop sound in much the same way as Sinima Beats is doing in their field. Personally I like this mashup style of making music and when it is allied to a good, intense rapper it works a treat - as it does here. Admittedly it is a bit short (a little shy of 1:40) and rough in overall sound, but what it contains works as well as any other Soundclick rap artist I have heard recently.

An interesting, if flawed, slice of hardcore rap. Recommended.