Everyone that knows me knows I am a true fan of the DE ... but that doesn't mean I think every album he makes is perfect. So with said here's what I think about his newest album compared to the rest. And remeber:
"The First D-E ain't for eveyone, yes I'm knowin' this, just don't let your mind get to carried away and be to slow for this"
It’ been almost a week since I first listened to First Degree the DE’s newest album … BIG BLACK BAT. And I must say … I don’t understand how anyone could NOT enjoy this album. Ok, ok … maybe I can understand, it is pretty abstract and out there. But what I can’t understand is how any prior DE listener that enjoyed his other work could NOT enjoy this album. Sure it’s not Planet Zero, nor is it Damn That DE … it’s definitely not Southbound and it has far few guest features to be FU. Nope, it’s not any of these. It’s not even close. It's FAR superior to ANY of those.
Every DE album I have ever listened to I had to really sit myself down and listen to it. Not just hear it … but really listen to it. The beats, the bells and whistles, the hooks, the mumbling in the back, the lyrics, the little sounds 90% of people couldn’t pick out. I mean everything. Planet Zero was the first DE album I ever purchased. I purchased it before I was even a real member of this board. And the only reason I truly purchased it was to hear Lynch’s verse on it because I was a huge Lynch fan and I liked DE’s verse’s on Loaded. The first day I had the album I nearly took the album back to the music store and pawned it back to them and say “No wonder you only have one copy”. But I forced myself to listen to it for a week before I threw it into the NON-Listening section. After a couple days it grew on me. After a week it was becoming one of my favorite albums. After a month it was my favorite current album. After 3 months it was my favorite album of all time.
And so became my introduction to First Degree the DE. And every album of his after that has been the same. With FU, a download of “Based On I’m Rilla” I DL'd from this very sight got me to purchase the album and after a month of listening, it became my favorite comp of all time. Then when Damn that DE came out … I was amazed at the progression of the beats and lyrics. But songs like “Bad Biddi” I thought I would never enjoy. Even “There that Man” (one of my favorites) I was skeptical about for the first week or so. It took me at least a week of listening before I could fully enjoy the whole album and a month before I could really love every song. I don’t think I really got a true appreciation for Bad Biddi until I was able to be in the video for it in my trip to Chico and was sitting in a circle of my homies from the board while DE moved around in the middle of the circle singing the song.
With that said, I totally expected the same thing from this album. Lynch was perfect for the intro … and I don’t think DE could have chosen a better song than “Watchin’ my life go” as the first song to start it off. It pulls you into the album right from the jump. But after that first song began my journey for “the song”. The one song on every DE album I can’t enjoy right from the first listening. The one song that I have to skip after a couple minutes to get to the next song I haven’t heard yet that could be my new all time favorite. So came Crackufuction, then Jabberwocky … and so on and so on. Song after song I waited for my head to stop bobbing and my finger to move towards the fast forward button on my CD player. Song 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, haha … Until FINALLY track 14 hit my player and I was in even more shock. While I had repeated a few songs … not a single song had I skipped or fast forwarded for even a second. And now with almost a week I still find myself enjoying every single song, every lyric, every beat.
DTDE was much more well rounded than Planet Zero. I could understand how some could not feel it after listening to Planet Zero for so long. It was much deeper, much more varied. It took a much greater open mind to except it. But I think it really prepared people for this album. I can not possibly understand how anyone who liked DTDE could not love this album.
Planet Zero introduced us to the planet and explained what Planet Zero was. Damn that DE introduced us to the man who lived on the planet and told us a little more about him. “There that man” he told us. But Big Black Bat swoops your ass up and drops you right in the middle of the planet, right next to the man who has created this “New World”. the lyrics and beats are unparalleled. They flow together like none of his other albums before this. DTDE was tremendous but I always said it lacks that Classic feel Planet Zero had, thus unable to surpass completely in greatness. But BBB surpasses them all. Not only do the beats and lyrics come together like no other album before this … it comes together in another very important area when making an album. I don’t think the songs could have been positioned any better than they were. With Damn That DE I always felt some songs were out of place. That maybe certain songs should be found at different locations throughout the CD. With this album every song leads into the next perfectly. And most of all, it's a TRUE! SOLO ALBUM. Aside from Lynch talking in a couple of inserts, a lady singing "What's crackufuction", and a tight rapper rapping a little snippet at the end of Unforgiven ... there is not a single soul aside from DE and his alter egos telling his story. I can not express how much this meant to me. I thought solo albums were dead! Music is called an art form by many, but in this day and age not many will argue with you that it’s not just for the money and fame. But this album is so refreshing when you truly listen to it. It really expresses Mr. Michael’s vision. It takes you to the world of his alter egos Mr. The DE, Robo DE, and Blackulem. It paints a picture of this “New World” like a good book or poem. Sure it has it’s clichés too with the talk of weed smoking and sex … but in a whole new light. In a way only the DE can explain. It’s not about “Smoking “blunts” and “fucking bitches” … it’s about having a “hot baf and a minty one” with the girly who “…wants his mighty staff”, who “ … wants to share his bath”.
“Homie niggas on the corner say wut up to DE. But one in the bunch, him do not want to see me. He say, “DE you’ll never go plat’ you too abstract!” I own the lable so I can deal with that.”
Whether you like the DE or not … you have to give the man credit. No matter how much talent you have or don’t have … sometimes people will understand you and sometimes they just won’t. In a day and age where cats rap and people sing just for the money and fame, DE seems to truly keep real to himself. In doing so he provides a much needed breathe of fresh air to people like myself who just can‘t stomach all that “normal“ shit you hear on the radio. So I just want to say, “Thanks Mr. The DE” and “Much Luv”
Cac tha 6-0 aka Bryan
"The First D-E ain't for eveyone, yes I'm knowin' this, just don't let your mind get to carried away and be to slow for this"
It’ been almost a week since I first listened to First Degree the DE’s newest album … BIG BLACK BAT. And I must say … I don’t understand how anyone could NOT enjoy this album. Ok, ok … maybe I can understand, it is pretty abstract and out there. But what I can’t understand is how any prior DE listener that enjoyed his other work could NOT enjoy this album. Sure it’s not Planet Zero, nor is it Damn That DE … it’s definitely not Southbound and it has far few guest features to be FU. Nope, it’s not any of these. It’s not even close. It's FAR superior to ANY of those.
Every DE album I have ever listened to I had to really sit myself down and listen to it. Not just hear it … but really listen to it. The beats, the bells and whistles, the hooks, the mumbling in the back, the lyrics, the little sounds 90% of people couldn’t pick out. I mean everything. Planet Zero was the first DE album I ever purchased. I purchased it before I was even a real member of this board. And the only reason I truly purchased it was to hear Lynch’s verse on it because I was a huge Lynch fan and I liked DE’s verse’s on Loaded. The first day I had the album I nearly took the album back to the music store and pawned it back to them and say “No wonder you only have one copy”. But I forced myself to listen to it for a week before I threw it into the NON-Listening section. After a couple days it grew on me. After a week it was becoming one of my favorite albums. After a month it was my favorite current album. After 3 months it was my favorite album of all time.
And so became my introduction to First Degree the DE. And every album of his after that has been the same. With FU, a download of “Based On I’m Rilla” I DL'd from this very sight got me to purchase the album and after a month of listening, it became my favorite comp of all time. Then when Damn that DE came out … I was amazed at the progression of the beats and lyrics. But songs like “Bad Biddi” I thought I would never enjoy. Even “There that Man” (one of my favorites) I was skeptical about for the first week or so. It took me at least a week of listening before I could fully enjoy the whole album and a month before I could really love every song. I don’t think I really got a true appreciation for Bad Biddi until I was able to be in the video for it in my trip to Chico and was sitting in a circle of my homies from the board while DE moved around in the middle of the circle singing the song.
With that said, I totally expected the same thing from this album. Lynch was perfect for the intro … and I don’t think DE could have chosen a better song than “Watchin’ my life go” as the first song to start it off. It pulls you into the album right from the jump. But after that first song began my journey for “the song”. The one song on every DE album I can’t enjoy right from the first listening. The one song that I have to skip after a couple minutes to get to the next song I haven’t heard yet that could be my new all time favorite. So came Crackufuction, then Jabberwocky … and so on and so on. Song after song I waited for my head to stop bobbing and my finger to move towards the fast forward button on my CD player. Song 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, haha … Until FINALLY track 14 hit my player and I was in even more shock. While I had repeated a few songs … not a single song had I skipped or fast forwarded for even a second. And now with almost a week I still find myself enjoying every single song, every lyric, every beat.
DTDE was much more well rounded than Planet Zero. I could understand how some could not feel it after listening to Planet Zero for so long. It was much deeper, much more varied. It took a much greater open mind to except it. But I think it really prepared people for this album. I can not possibly understand how anyone who liked DTDE could not love this album.
Planet Zero introduced us to the planet and explained what Planet Zero was. Damn that DE introduced us to the man who lived on the planet and told us a little more about him. “There that man” he told us. But Big Black Bat swoops your ass up and drops you right in the middle of the planet, right next to the man who has created this “New World”. the lyrics and beats are unparalleled. They flow together like none of his other albums before this. DTDE was tremendous but I always said it lacks that Classic feel Planet Zero had, thus unable to surpass completely in greatness. But BBB surpasses them all. Not only do the beats and lyrics come together like no other album before this … it comes together in another very important area when making an album. I don’t think the songs could have been positioned any better than they were. With Damn That DE I always felt some songs were out of place. That maybe certain songs should be found at different locations throughout the CD. With this album every song leads into the next perfectly. And most of all, it's a TRUE! SOLO ALBUM. Aside from Lynch talking in a couple of inserts, a lady singing "What's crackufuction", and a tight rapper rapping a little snippet at the end of Unforgiven ... there is not a single soul aside from DE and his alter egos telling his story. I can not express how much this meant to me. I thought solo albums were dead! Music is called an art form by many, but in this day and age not many will argue with you that it’s not just for the money and fame. But this album is so refreshing when you truly listen to it. It really expresses Mr. Michael’s vision. It takes you to the world of his alter egos Mr. The DE, Robo DE, and Blackulem. It paints a picture of this “New World” like a good book or poem. Sure it has it’s clichés too with the talk of weed smoking and sex … but in a whole new light. In a way only the DE can explain. It’s not about “Smoking “blunts” and “fucking bitches” … it’s about having a “hot baf and a minty one” with the girly who “…wants his mighty staff”, who “ … wants to share his bath”.
“Homie niggas on the corner say wut up to DE. But one in the bunch, him do not want to see me. He say, “DE you’ll never go plat’ you too abstract!” I own the lable so I can deal with that.”
Whether you like the DE or not … you have to give the man credit. No matter how much talent you have or don’t have … sometimes people will understand you and sometimes they just won’t. In a day and age where cats rap and people sing just for the money and fame, DE seems to truly keep real to himself. In doing so he provides a much needed breathe of fresh air to people like myself who just can‘t stomach all that “normal“ shit you hear on the radio. So I just want to say, “Thanks Mr. The DE” and “Much Luv”
Cac tha 6-0 aka Bryan
