Album Review: Who the hell is 88 Keys?

No, that's not the album title. That's actually "The Death of Adam". But everybody I mention the name 88 Keys to asks me who the hell this guy is. Well, the short e-answer is here.

The somewhat circuitous answer may result after reading my review of The Death of Adam. Check it out...

I mentioned a day ago on Facebook that all fellas should listen to this album. The reason is because (as 88 Keys says) "[T]he entire album is about the power of the punani". And that's precisely correct. From beginning-to-end the album is about the power of the p-u...I-see-you. Based on this you might expect the typical hyper-sexual rapper's tales of sexual prowess, womanizing, pimpin', and an all-out desire to "get his". While there's some of that on the album, there's also evidecne on the album of the vulnerable, conflicted, confused, and frustrated sides of the male psyche as we interact with women. 88 does a good job of examining some of the potential trials and tribulations male/female relationships and dating (and relations) in addition to talking about the power of you know what.

From the onset the album flows very cohesively as story of Adam and everything "punani" (and/or woman) related that he goes through that eventually ends in his "death". In its entirety, the album is a solid and cohesive piece of work that reminded me a little of how American Gangster flowed in the way that the album's songs were arranged to make a point and/or tell a story. The Death of Adam probably has an even better flow in my opinion because of the narrator throughout that helps guide you through what's going on in a non-abrupt and disjointed way. Her soundbytes don't sound like awkwardly-placed skits but flow right along with the pace of the album turning her commentary into complementary narration that helps you wonder what's going to happen next as you follow Adam.

Musically, the album is a mash-up of a lot of different sounds but in a good way. It has a NERD meets Kanye meets soul-hop feel to it throughout the album. I'm not well-versed in instruments, musical production, or musical arrangements so I won't even try to give a solid review of the album from that perspective. But in general terms, it's an album you can listen to from beginning-to-end and skip maybe 3 times. That's not bad. But just like Kanye's CD, don't be fooled into thinking that this is a typical hip-hop album because it is not. It's more than that. And just like I am starting to realize Kanye's album is, this album is in a sense... Bigger than hip-hop.

My favorite song on the album is probably "Close Call" which I'll admit features one of my favorite rappers (Phonte of Little Brother). So if I had to recommend one song to listen to it would be that one followed by "Handcuff 'Em" and "Viagara (Stay Up)". The rest of the songs are probably better within the flow of the album rather than as individual tracks though some of them can still stand solidly on their own.

For what the star-rating is worth I'll give this album a 3.5/5 stars. I want to give it 4 but something's not letting me. It's a solid album and I'd recommend buying it.

Here's the track-by-track analysis...

Morning Wood...Fellas, you already know what this is about. You'll hear a lot of people say that the best sex is "morning sex" and "Adam" starts this album off by letting you know just how great his day will be if "she" takes care of his morning wood. The beat might throw a lot of the fellas off as a little too bubbly but if you listen to what he's saying you'll probably agree with me that you can relate. "Rolling over in my bed...I feel something's going on with my love down below/I hope she's not putting on her clothes cuz I don't want her to go...I don't wanna sound rude but I need head before she heads home/So now I'm thinking of a plan....Can I turn this thing around/Can I get her to go down to my love down below/I hope she's not putting on her clothes cuz I don't want her to go...We had a lot of fun but now I gotta run...It's time to say goodbye to my love down below/I hope she's putting on her clothes cuz it's time to go."

Nice Guys Finish Last...Here's where the Kanye-Tuda sound comes into play on the production. I was feeling this production the first time I heard the track so much that I had to go back a couple times just to pay more attention to what he was saying rather than the beat. This track is all about how being a nice guy can give you false hope and eventually land you in the dreaded "friend zone". A friend recently told me though that "nice guys finish last but finish best". Hmmmnnnn, whatever the fock that means!!! LOL

The Friends Zone (feat. Shitake Monkey)...Here's where the NERD-esque sound comes into play. If this album didn't flow as well as it does I would (almost) never listen to a track like this. But you may feel like you are going to miss a part of the story if you skip this song. My favorite line from this song is "my vision is doubled by the Viagara I popped, thinkin' bout your bubble girl". At this point Adam is getting tired of having conversation that's casual to her, but a little deeper for him because he's hoping to get some after listening to 3 hours of her opening up to him. All the listening turns out to be for naught though and Adam is pretty upset about it at the end, LOL.

Handcuff 'Em...This track might be my favorite beat on the album. I heard this sample before on a Little Brother mixtape and I was a bit shocked to hear it again on this album. Shocked in a good way though. At this point Adam is all about Adam so he's a bit more straightforward with his intentions. You know...Nice guy meets girl...gets put in friend zone...gets frustrated and gives up...meets new girl...drops nice guy routine...gets lucky. There was only one problem with Adam though...

Viagara (Stay Up feat. Kanye West)...That problem being, Adam can't "stay up". I'm pretty sure this track is old as dirt but it still rocks. Kanye does his thing..."What she got is so niagara/make a young nikkah straight need viagara/make a old nikkah give keys to jaguar/just to keep from all the tease and laughter/her telling her homegirls that he couldn't stay up...every time that she bang-bang he skeet skeet/and he so bullheaded, tried to 3-peat/try imagining something passionate, between you Cassie and Kim Kardashian/maybe that'll work when you get to hit that azz again/or you can grab a red bull and sip that twice...you said f*ck that dog I'm gon' tape it/and came for you barely even got the tape in/" LOL. I'm sure some of the ladies will be shaking their heads at this one.

There's Pleasure In It...More of a skit than a song. Nice beat though.

(Aww Man) Round 2?...This is where Adam loses that confidence he found back during Handcuff 'Em. "I'm headed to sleepsville, he's headed to smallsville...we just finished round one we shouldn't head into another session". Ladies, I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of this one too. I'd call this the segue that is the turning point in the album in terms of Adam's karma. After this it starts going downhill.

Dirty Peaches (feat J'Davey)...Musically, this is one of those smooth joints you want to listen/vibe to when you're in a good mood or just relaxing in general. Like I said earlier in this post, some of the songs have a soul-hop feel to them. I'm not gonna lie though, I'm still trying to figure out the "dirty peaches" metaphor.

Close Call (feat Phonte)...Before I talk about this track I just want to go on record and ask anyone who can, to provide me with an answer to the following equation/question...

??? > Phonte

If you know of the group Little Brother and have listened to their music or just kept up with Phonte in general, please help me out because I am having trouble deciding whether that's an answerable question or not. Let me proceed...Like I mentioned above, "Close Call" is probably my favorite track off the album. Phonte starts off rapping about how he makes the bad decision of having sex without a condom (yes fellas, that's not a good look) and getting false confidence that the girl was on the patch. From there it turns into the trap that most men fear..."so she switched from the patch and started taking the pill...one night she put my hand on her stomach and said baby we gon' be a family once I pop this kid/I said bullshyt, let me back it up/And explain to you exactly what yo options is/Option 1 take this nikkah to the Hoover/Or option 2 f*ck on I never knew ya'/I know it sounds crazy and it seems prideful/but I couldn't shake the feeling that I been lied to...left the pills on the dresser right by my copy of Getback/I poured 'em in my hand, then put one in my mouth/Sure enough all this time she been poppin' Tic Tacs".

The Burning Bush (feat Redman)...The title says it all. The song has a fun beat. It's one of those beats I'd love to hear live but overall the song doesn't really do it for me.

Ho' Is Short For Honey (feat Kid Cudi)...I've been hearing a bit about this Kid Cudi guy vis-&aagrave;-vis Kanye (including the song on his CD with Cudi) and Consequence but I've yet to really hear this guy rap. From what I understand his style is rap/sing. But that's not really saying much considering R. Kelly is kinda sing/rap and so is T Pain and so is Akon. And TIP (whatever you liiiiiiiike), 50 Cent (lol) are kinda rap/sing if you would like to stretch it that way, LOL. Anyway, Cudi doesn't obliterate the song with his presence which is all I was really hoping for. This song definitely feels/sounds like the song the Roots did with Cody Chestnut (The Seed 2.0) which was great for how seriously Cody wanted to put his seed in some chick's "bush for life". While this song succeeds musically like "The Seed" it does not succeed overall. I just can't get with the flow on this one. SKIP!

No I SAID I LIKED YOU...Instrumental interlude. You'll like it though.

M.I.L.F. (feat. Bilal)...Regardless of how he felt back during the "Close Call", Adam's gonna be a daddy. Bilal's distinct and soulful voice complements another one of those smooth soulful beats a la "Dirty Peachers". Bilal sings about having a child that looks just like him and a drama-bringin' baby's mother. "Thought I was macking....played the game too long". Yep.

Another Victim...Another victim of the "punani". Moral of the story: Chasing azz instead of love might just make you a victim of your own selfishness. You might love the game but the game doesn't always love you back, pimpin'!

If it was difficult to follow my half-review-half-story throughout this post I suggest you do yourself the favor of checking out 88 Keys on myspace or copping the album (it's worth it).