Leap of Faith by Aye Sincere- A King Dice Experience (Album Review)

I won’t do this often, I’m not Anthony Fantano and I really have no desire to be. I’m an emcee, a producer, and a damn good artist.  With that comes my ability to find, analyze, and promote good music. Aye Sincere is an artist I’ve had the pleasure of watching grow. I jumped at the chance when I was invited to his album listening party for Leap of faith. I pulled up to Serious Cartoons Records in San Bernardino and settled into a nice spot on the couch. As I became one with the cushions the lights were dimmed and Sincere spoke briefly about the project. Then he hit play…

1.Leap of Faith- The album opens with a skit setting the theatrical tone of the album. The opening track is an introduction to the “live instrumentation” feel this album has. This track feels like goodbye to rapper known as Young Sincere.
2. Are you Okay- the influence of Anderson.Paak is obvious, but with a twist. On the second track we get introduced to the new persona of Aye Sincere, shedding the veneer of Young Sincere for a more mature tone and higher level of artistry.
3. Let Go- Nicklaus Grey can be heard lending his voice to the hook of Let Go. Propaganda does a great job of complimenting the voices and styles laid before us on this song. The trio really create magic on this song
4. Leap Down- This song is an upbeat one.
5. Fall Away pt. 3- Aye Sincere creates a haunting vocal intro that bleeds into another upbeat song. By this song I was craving something new, not because the songs are bad, but I began to feel the diversity in the album was lacking. Had the song adopted the identity of Nicklaus Grey’s bridge It would have been a well needed break from the 1-2-3-4 up beat songs we’ve gotten so far.
6. Glide- Ask and you shall receive. This song is a demonstration of the ability for Aye Sincere to show his ability to craft songs from tapping in with Nicklaus Grey for vocals again to utilizing CJ Wesley’s ability to blend in with the established feel of the album.
7. Earthbound- another song you could hear at Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe. There is definitely a deliberate intention to capture this specific sound. Instead of being another rapper in a sea of sound-alikes, Aye Sincere does a great job of setting himself apart in a way that I think will set him up for huge opportunities and future successes.
8. Come Back Home- if you go to buffets and like to get a little bit of everything, this song is for you. I mean, I like it, it IS a good song. I just feel like the artist I just spent 7 songs getting to know is lost on this track. Again, not a bad song but if I heard this song first and listened to the rest of the album, I feel like I would think they were two different artists.

Aye Sincere is Anderson.Paak plus Chance the Rapper times Childish Gambino circa Because the Internet with a generous helping of West Coast I.E. flavor people have come to expect from this region. This album feels like you’re sitting in on a well-polished band’s practice sets, the chemistry pours through the speaker even when guest features grace the various songs. It all just works. The growth can’t be ignored. All too often artists grow and change in name only but Young Sincere becoming Aye Sincere isn’t just a superficial transformation. The songs, the vibe, and the skill has evolved. August 30th the album drops.

The Politics of Bandana by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s new Bandana, the sequel to the already legendary Piñata is remarkable in a lot of ways but one is the depth of political commentary in Gibbs’ stories, in comparison to the first record in the series. In songs like “Flat Tummy Tea” and “Situations” he refers to Jeff Sessions, Obama, Bush and more that have been involved in lawmaking that affected him or the characters he raps about.

In “Flat Tummy Tea” he says

Obama can't make the law retroactive, what the fuck
happened?

Congress cock-blockin' niggas from comin' home to they family
If you lucky, when he left out of office
You got a pardon, overtime cut

This makes me think…Gibbs probably would not agree with young leftists that say there is no difference between the two major political parties or even given actors within the parties: here he is describing a situation where the small difference between two possible versions of a law meant the difference between the protagonist getting out of incarceration or staying. The Obama administration was always pushing for more reforms than the Republican congress would cooperate in delivering and here Gibbs explains point blank how that affected him. Per Genius.com, Gibbs says he was locked up when he wrote this so I suspect this stuff somewhat applied to his situation.

On “Situations” he says
Motherfuck Jeff Sessions, I'm sellin' dope with a
weapon

Only union some of me and my niggas got is the Western
I'm they favorite rapper when niggas fucked up and they stressin'
Lot of niggas feel like I got my bucks up and I left 'em
Tell them pussy niggas come get the fuck up on my level, yeah
This how it feel to wake up and you don't owe nobody shit
Not an explanation, not no conversation, Drug Administration, suck a nigga dick

Again, he isn’t just saying “fuck all the politicians…” despite references in his songs to having been arrested on the day Obama was elected. He is saying fuck these Republicans- almost as if he knows the right-wing administrations tend to seek harsher penalties and set up the more draconian frameworks in the first place.

The specificity of the bind the protagonist in Bandana finds himself in is one of its innovations in relation to Piñata; a friend of mine, notorious tweeter Wavy Jones said he thinks Bandana is more of a Gibbs record whereas Piñata felt like more of a collaboration. The depth of the story telling in Bandana backs this I think, it’s like Gibbs is letting us, the listener, in more and learning about some real shit. Worth paying attention to, I think.

Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is a staff writer for Zus Entertainment, a Jooseboxx and Untapped Hip-Hop contributor, and member of the Inland Empire nerdcore hip-hop group the West Coast Avengers