N Talekt - Diamond

Hear The Track Here

Richmond, Virginia based rapper N Talekt says 'you gave me a rather harsh kick-in-the-pants review a couple years back' so I was duty bound to go back and re-read it before I tackled Diamond. Best to know what you are in for I say. 'I'd like to think I've come along fairly well since then' he adds and so would I because there is no substitute for making mistakes and learning from them. One of the benefits of being a long term, almost daily reviewer is that you get to understand very quickly that everyone learns at their own rate, but they DO learn. I have had many happy instances of trashing somebody's work only to have them turn right around and prove to me just how wrong I can be at times.

Or how right, depending on which end you live.

Hiphop and rap has a bad, bad reputation amongst most of the Soundclick regulars I know which is strange considering it is far and away the largest sector on the site. The sole reason for that particular canard is because we've all been deluged by endless 'peep my shit', 'Holla back's' and sundry other blatancies and - of course - a universe of wannabees who should be shotabees. A massive generalisation of course because I have found lots of good (and some great) hiphop on Soundclick, but sadly that us - even today - a rare occurence. Which is why Diamond came in so handy because it shows that not all hiphop is derivative meaningless pap. See, N Talekt was right, two years can indeed make a difference, but can it make THE difference?

Happily, N Talekt comes real, real close to it with this excellent slice of hiphop. Beats and production supplied by VybeBeatz and that is the first plus you will notice. Its a full blooded sound, despite the fact that its a semi-ballad, and lyrically it is excellent - in that hiphop/rap/gangsta kinda way. The real surprise is N Talekt himself who I gave crap to about his vocal delivery last time because he has cleaned up his act big time. His rap fits perfectly with the track, making the impact on the listener that I feel is necessary for ANY hiphop track to get through the clutter and into a wider set of ears. It isn't perfect but its pretty damn close and that in itself is an admirable achievement.

Highly Recommended hiphop.