General Steele and Es-K-Building Bridges-CD-FLAC-2016-THEVOiD

                              DRIFT INTO THE VOID
 Info   
     Artist  | General Steele & Es-K
     Title   | Building Bridges
     Genre   | Hip-Hop                              Format  | Album
     Source  | CD                                   Time    | 39:19
     Label   | Bucktown USA                         Store   | 2016
     Catalog | BTU7000CD                            Rip     | 2020
     Bitrate | 869 kbps                             Size    | 257.50 MB
     Freq    | 44.1 kHz                             Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
 Tracks 
     01. Redlight (Feat. VVS Verbal)                                 2:27
     02. Err'day (Feat. VVS Verbal & Napoleon Da Legend)             3:20
     03. Da Saga Continues (Feat. VVS Verbal & Napoleon Da Legend)   3:24
     04. Do Remember (Feat. VVS Verbal, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Mar'rz      4:09
         Atomz & Stage One)
     05. Persistence (Feat. VVS Verbal & Louie Skaggs)               3:40
     06. Good Music (Feat. VVS Verbal, Mar'rz Atomz & Boone Bixby)   2:15
     07. Just Live (Feat. Buckshot)                                  2:40
     08. Essential (Feat. Supreme The Eloheem, Coke & VVS Verbal)    3:52
     09. Empire State (Feat. VVS Verbal, Mar'rz Atomz & Smoothe Da   3:47
         Hustler)
     10. Unforgettable (Feat. VVS Verbal & Sean Price)               2:52
     11. No Turning Back (Feat. Louie Skaggs & Shadow The Great)     3:43
     12. Kill Everything (Feat. VVS Verbal, Rockness Monsta & Ruste  3:10
         Juxx)
 Notes  
     Produced by Es-K, except "Err'day" by Hellfire Beats and "Kill Everything"
     by Central Parks.
     One constant in the ever-changing hip-hop game is the importance of the
     co-sign. Nothing confers legitimacy on an up-and-coming young artist quite
     like doing work with established veterans. It's an artistic honor and just
     plain good business. That's why Vermont producer Es-K's latest project,
     Building Bridges, is such a landmark achievement. Far beyond the
     traditional guest verse and photo op, this is a full-length collaboration
     with New York City rap legend General Steele of Smif-N-Wessun and Boot Camp
     Clik.
     The General brought a lot of talent with him, too. The lineup here is
     almost absurdly stacked. Features include Rawkus-era beast Shabaam Sahdeeq,
     Ruste Juxx, Smoothe Da Hustler and Rockness Monsta. There is even a verse
     from Sean Price (RIP)  widely considered one of the best rappers, period.
     Fittingly, Building Bridges also showcases young, hungry talents such as
     Vvs Verbal, who shows up on nine of the 12 tracks here, and Shadow the
     Great, from the remarkable Loaf Muzik collective.
     Make no mistake, though, this is very much General Steele's show. An
     effortlessly commanding presence on the mic, his verses always impress. At
     a stage in his career where most rappers would fall back on their
     reputations, Steele raises the bar with some searing, honest songwriting.
     He is introspective without being self-indulgent and packs his life
     experience into sparse, brilliant lines throughout.
     Steele's approach clearly sets the tone. The guest appearances are
     uniformly on point; nobody is half-stepping. Every track is in keeping with
     the album theme: transcending our circumstances, improving ourselves and
     building a better future.
     Es-K's jazzified boom-bap turns out to be a perfect counterpoint for
     General Steele's stark baritone flow. (Two of the beats here were produced
     by Tennessee beatsmith and longtime Es-K collaborator Central Parks; they
     fit seamlessly.) It's obvious you're listening to technicians who study
     hip-hop as much as they love it. The flow and sequencing here is flawless.
     The mix is dense but crystal clear, laying boom-bap drum programming over
     musically inventive, constantly shifting instrumentation. Rap performances
     aside, perhaps the single most impressive aspect of this album is how much
     subtle complexity is baked into these hypnotic beats.
     Building Bridges is a monumental release that represents years of work.
     Fortunately, it's getting the treatment it deserves. In an era of
     ephemeral, digital-only "album releases," Es-K and General Steele opted to
     make the project available on both CD and high-quality vinyl. The vinyl
     edition showcases the intricate design work of Joe Buck, famous for his
     iconic De La Soul Is Dead cover.
     By virtue of his tireless work ethic and genuine personality, Es-K has been
     growing his reach and reputation for a while now. Time will tell, but it's
     hard to believe this album won't be looked back on as his "big break"
     moment. One thing's for sure: He's done Vermont proud.

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4.0K	00-general_steele_and_es-k-building_bridges-cd-flac-2016-thevoid.m3u
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15M	01-general_steele_and_es-k-redlight_(feat._vvs_verbal)-thevoid.flac
22M	02-general_steele_and_es-k-errday_(feat._vvs_verbal_and_napoleon_da_legend)-thevoid.flac
22M	03-general_steele_and_es-k-da_saga_continues_(feat._vvs_verbal_and_napoleon_da_legend)-thevoid.flac
26M	04-general_steele_and_es-k-do_remember_(feat._vvs_verbal_shabaam_sahdeeq_marrz_atomz_and_stage_one)-thevoid.flac
22M	05-general_steele_and_es-k-persistence_(feat._vvs_verbal_and_louie_skaggs)-thevoid.flac
15M	06-general_steele_and_es-k-good_music_(feat._vvs_verbal_marrz_atomz_and_boone_bixby)-thevoid.flac
16M	07-general_steele_and_es-k-just_live_(feat._buckshot)-thevoid.flac
25M	08-general_steele_and_es-k-essential_(feat._supreme_the_eloheem_coke_and_vvs_verbal)-thevoid.flac
25M	09-general_steele_and_es-k-empire_state_(feat._vvs_verbal_marrz_atomz_and_smoothe_da_hustler)-thevoid.flac
17M	10-general_steele_and_es-k-unforgettable_(feat._vvs_verbal_and_sean_price)-thevoid.flac
23M	11-general_steele_and_es-k-no_turning_back_(feat._louie_skaggs_and_shadow_the_great)-thevoid.flac
22M	12-general_steele_and_es-k-kill_everything_(feat._vvs_verbal_rockness_monsta_and_ruste_juxx)-thevoid.flac
247M	total