Weird Wednesdays: review of Nameless' "Beyond" album

A couple Wednesdays a month I'm gonna try to show you guys something off the beaten path that I'm bumpin'....

Nameless, leader of the nameless Nation, is one of those artists who is just having fun with the styles of music he likes so it’s fun to listen to him. A nerdcore artist/producer as well as So Cal based educator, Beyond is a cool introduction to this very chill yet very active musical mind.

 

“How I Roll” barrels in with middle-eastern tinged 90’s pop-flavored bangin’ boom-bap and Nameless plays it cool for “all you creepy muthafuckas who be kool-aid smirkin’.” “Kush” is a Latin-language mixed posse cut stoner anthem. “Afterhours” is the anthem of the album in which Nameless tells you when he wants to see you- the melodies on tracks like these reminds one of 2pac-era crossover rap singles but with modern sensibilities of positivity and nerd references.

"Bhangra Boogie" shows his consistent relish of different kinds of melodies. “Feelin’ Good”  and “Love in the new Caliphate” showcase Nameless’ love for remixing the classics in experimental electronic tones and they add a nice expansive texture to the project as a whole. “Oshun” continues his fascination with the east and spirituality and the idea of the album as “Beyond” takes more shape- his cultural hodgepodge senses the spiritual thrum and rhythm of California’s life in this post-modern moment- the solemn and the celebratory co-exist within the common bonds of melody and electricity.  “Escucha” is a delightful bit of Latin indie-pop that sounds familiar even though I’ve never actually heard anything quite like it.

“Concrete Jungle” is Nameless and friends take on a Wu-Tang style group romp, followed by his Cudi-style embrace “Both Hands”. “Spirit Bombin’” depicts psychedelic blowedian type exploration, leading into “Rewind” a dance-hop cut that reminds me of the Matrix and Blade movies. Listen for what he doesn’t say, for the math in the distance between songs, the breadth of the many styles of Nameless, listen for what’s beyond. 

Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is staff writer for JooseBoxx, a youth hip-hop and poetry tutor, and member of the Inland Empire nerdcore hip-hop group the West Coast Avengers. Catch more of their work at westcoastavengers.com, follow Tristan on Twitter @Tanjint or e-mail him at tristanacker@gmail.com