Blood Of Abraham-Eyedollartree-CD-FLAC-2005-THEVOiD

                              DRIFT INTO THE VOID
 Info   
     Artist  | Blood Of Abraham
     Title   | Eyedollartree
     Genre   | Hip-Hop                              Format  | Album
     Source  | CD                                   Time    | 57:20
     Label   | MasterGrip / Basement Records        Store   | 2005
     Catalog | BR1151-2                             Rip     | 2021
     Bitrate | 820 kbps                             Size    | 353.03 MB
     Freq    | 44.1 kHz                             Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
 Tracks 
     01. Know The Half (Prod. Cyrus Melchor & Blood Of Abraham)      3:47
     02. Only The Wise (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of Abraham)         4:38
     03. 99 Cent Lighter (Feat. Will.I.Am.) (Prod. Motiv8 & Blood    3:48
         Of Abraham)
     04. Paranoia Is Awareness (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of          3:59
         Abraham)
     05. Velvet Glove Iron Fist (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of         4:50
         Abraham)
     06. -Tion (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of Abraham)                 4:37
     07. Calling All Citizens (Feat. Will.I.Am.) (Prod. Will.I.Am.   4:50
         & Blood Of Abraham)
     08. Hurricane (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of Abraham)             3:48
     09. Rosetta Stone (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of Abraham)         3:40
     10. Giant Midgets (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of Abraham)         4:15
     11. Eyedollartree (Prod. Will.I.Am. & Blood Of Abraham)         5:09
     12. (Dangerous) Diseases (Prod. Cyrus Melchor & Blood Of        5:13
         Abraham)
     13. Omegaton (Feat. Divine Styler & Kool Keith) (Prod. Cyrus    4:46
         Melchor & Blood Of Abraham)
 Notes  
     Hip-hop is packed with stories coming from unlikely places, but Blood of
     Abraham's debut trumps nearly all. Originally discovered by Eazy-E for
     Ruthless Records, the duo of Benyad and Mazik suddenly found themselves in
     front of a gang truce concert hosted by Eazy, performing in front of a
     divided sea of red and blue. Though their career with Ruthless ended when
     Eazy departed, their oft-forgotten album "Future Profits" remains as their
     legacy in hip-hop, and their success that night in L.A. was the beginning
     to a delayed but still breathing career. Twelve years after their debut,
     Blood of Abraham has returned with "EyeDollarTree," a conceptual record on
     Basement Records.
     Blood of Abraham has always drawn inspiration from their backgrounds.
     Benyad is a mix of Moroccan and Jewish heritage, and Mazik is Irish and
     Jewish. "Future Profits" contained such commentaries as "Niggaz and Jewz,"
     but their new effort marks significant growth musically and lyrically. The
     duo has crafted an intricate, deadly serious record. The lyrical themes as
     well as the musical melodies are hidden so that multiple listens will
     reveal surprising depth.
     The production on "EyeDollarTree" is the absolute driving force, a tempered
     barrage of a contained variety of noises. There is plenty to relax into,
     starting with the calm bass foundation. The combined efforts of Benyad,
     Mazik, and Will.I.am hug the vocals without feeling forced, sharing a
     supporting role equally with the words. "Know the Half" acts as the opener,
     and the momentum of the track is provided from a soft, distorted sitar. The
     hook, uttered with melodic care, is supplemented by humming female voices.
     As a full song, the instrumentation stutters slightly, but as a lush
     introduction to this musical cornucopia, "Know the Half" is ideal.
     The first half of the album is far superior as a strictly hip-hop record,
     and "Only the Wise" is the best representation of this. The beat feels bare
     amongst this collection, but a variety of background elements climb up and
     out from the foundation. The hook is the centerpiece, a "hey hey hey" cry
     that strikes as almost taunting. The vocals on the record are complex but
     only vaguely ominous instead of inciting, which is not actually detrimental
     to the album as a whole. The most resonant moments, such as the
     aforementioned chorus, create transcendence between rap music and pure
     melody. The vocals are delivered with more emotion than strength, which is
     alternately frustrating and suitable. "Paranoia is Awareness," with a
     promising title, shows hope with the delivery of lines like "the government
     should hand out free shampoo with their conditioning." Most of the rhymes
     within the song, however, simply reinforce the already paranoid while
     inspiring disbelief in the doubters.
     Another standout arrives near the midpoint with the splendid "Tion." Though
     not more complex than the other offerings, the music is accented by a far
     deeper bass. Another sitar loop is dragged out, providing an empty, hollow
     sound to ride along with the bassline. The rhymes stand out because of the
     duo's exceptional sense of rhythm within their respective voices, which
     allows them to perform the hooks themselves without any trouble. "Calling
     All Citizens" realizes this phenomenon fully, eschewing rapping completely
     in favor of several choruses, making for another excellent moment on the
     LP. The incidentally titled "Hurricane" actually provides a rich metaphor
     within the context of the album's political musings, albeit accidentally.
     The community's rage surrounding the events following Hurricane Katrina is
     a logical tie-in on such a political record, even though the metaphor was
     obviously not intended. Unfortunately the song is rather forgettable, with
     rich instrumentation becoming lost in the somewhat strange attempts at
     abstract poetry.
     "EyeDollarTree" falters in the second half because of a slight lack of
     truly compelling music. Benyad and Mazik are adequate lyricists and spread
     intriguing thoughts throughout the record, but the memorable tracks are all
     owed to the layered, catchy, and unique music behind them. A few
     productions toward the end lose their beauty with repeated listens, and an
     absence of memorable hooks hurts the cause as well. The hook on "Giant
     Midgets" expounds on the dichotomy in the title, but the subtle messages
     can be interpreted in various ways, which leaves too many doors open. The
     title track allows us a glimpse into the concept of the record, stating
     "keep your eye on the dollar falling from my tree, subconscious, subliminal
     idolatry." This actually frames the lyrical content of the album quite
     nicely, but the message is still too blurred to be inspired. The ideas they
     present us with are wonderful, and those who dig abstract rhymes will be in
     heaven. For the rest of us, though, it's a bit much for an entire record.
     Regardless of rhyming preference, "EyeDollarTree" is still a nice record
     because of the beautiful musical tapestries laid over each song. The
     production is unified and distinct on a track-by-track basis. The problems
     Blood of Abraham encounters are a result of their brilliance in places,
     because the standards are set too high for subsequent songs to stand.
     "Omegaton," the closer with Divine Styler and Kool Keith, contains switches
     in production, but the ambitious melodies are just not quite as searing as
     the true highs of the record. Of course, the rhymes are not sub-par by any
     standards, but despite their comfortable fit within the music, the
     production is what will have you picking "EyeDollarTree" back up. Even on a
     lesser song, there is enough going on to merit many listens, and the depth
     of the record is provided almost solely through these means.
     What Benyad and Mazik have accomplished here is remarkable because of their
     history, but "EyeDollarTree" is simply an excellent record with plenty of
     material that can't be ignored. Complete, involving concept albums are hard
     to come by, and one with the musical dexterity of this one cannot be
     missed. Hopefully they won't take another twelve years off, but if they do,
     the next installment in 2017 should be mighty nice as well.
     Executive Producers: Blood Of Abraham, Mike Testone, and Cyrus Melchor
     Additional programming/production by Cyrus Melchor on #2-6, 8, 9, 11 and
     Motiv8 on #7(Intro), 9, 10.

1.4M	00-blood_of_abraham-eyedollartree-cd-flac-2005-thevoid.jpg
4.0K	00-blood_of_abraham-eyedollartree-cd-flac-2005-thevoid.m3u
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4.0K	00-blood_of_abraham-eyedollartree-cd-flac-2005-thevoid.sfv
23M	01-blood_of_abraham-know_the_half_(prod._cyrus_melchor_and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
27M	02-blood_of_abraham-only_the_wise_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
23M	03-blood_of_abraham-99_cent_lighter_(feat._will.i.am.)_(prod._motiv8_and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
24M	04-blood_of_abraham-paranoia_is_awareness_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
28M	05-blood_of_abraham-velvet_glove_iron_fist_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
28M	06-blood_of_abraham--tion_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
30M	07-blood_of_abraham-calling_all_citizens_(feat._will.i.am.)_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
23M	08-blood_of_abraham-hurricane_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
23M	09-blood_of_abraham-rosetta_stone_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
25M	10-blood_of_abraham-giant_midgets_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
32M	11-blood_of_abraham-eyedollartree_(prod._will.i.am._and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
28M	12-blood_of_abraham-(dangerous)_diseases_(prod._cyrus_melchor_and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
30M	13-blood_of_abraham-omegaton_(feat._divine_styler_and_kool_keith)_(prod._cyrus_melchor_and_blood_of_abraham)-thevoid.flac
339M	total