Part 1 in a 3 part series about San Diego Based Alternative Hip Hop group- The Bully Blinders
CITY OF DIRT is exactly how it sounds. It’s an album that’s a bit rough around the edges. It’s not very polished- and has a dirty kind of texture to the soul/horn samples and vocals that produce the tracks. The mixing isn’t completely done well (at times it’s even difficult to hear what Emcee Mike Talls is actually saying) and the imagery he uses is dark and grimy. However, it is all of these characteristics that make CITY OF DIRT and the BULLY BLINDERS (Talls and producer/bassist Chad Tuthill) such a memorable experience. Unpolished and gritty, Talls weaves lively stories together, each with their own feeling and message. Usually when I listen through an LP, most of the tracks just meld together leaving nothing that truly stands out. However each track on CITY OF DIRT has something that remains with the listener. Although he tackles topics that are usual food for thought for any underground emcee (life on the road, the education system, striving to get by), he does so in a way that is both unique to his style and very lyrically exciting.
(more tomorrow)
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i heart golden grahams