Abstract Rude – Rejuvenation

Album Reviews • Wednesday June 24th, 2009 • 10:51 am

The cover of Abstract Rude’s Rejuvenation features a single black hand holding a handful of dirt with a single sprout coming out of it. The slide out, shaped packaging is marked by the recycling symbol. In an unusually uncommon move for a genre where the words matter most, the lyrics are actually printed in the insert. As one might assume from the title and imagery, the themes throughout the album are full of growth, decay, and renewal.

The album opens with “Hip Hop Ryde,” an invitation with a repeated soul singer chorus and a melody that, though familiar, I can’t quite put my finger on. Abstract’s rap name drops the people he’s working with on the album. The title track follows and is basically Abstract talking about his skills. The fact that his skills are, in fact, formidable and that he uses lines like, “ My rhetoric’s filled with predicates including subjects,” make this more than just a hollow boast. “Nuff Fire” is next and is basically a love song to marijuana with lines like, “Hip hop what’s that in the ziplock. Pit stop made at the bud spot. Tell me did you just cop one bag. Zig zag twist up.” This is one love that lights up throughout the album. In fact, in “Is What it Is,” he muses over some deep horns, “I need to move where its legal to grow marijuana so I can live my life peaceful like the Dalai Lama.” I wonder what the Lama would think about his name rhyme.

Leaving lighter themes behind, “The Conch” is about calling out the deficits in the legal system. Over a simple rhythm line and synthesized strings Abstract rhymes, “Trust the system we don’t to get a fair shake. They say you will but you probably won’t.” Not wanting to get too heavy “Thynk Eye Can” is next. Constructed around a very funky rhythm guitar line and rhythm, he’s joined by Aceyalone and Myka9. Gospel oooh’s blend into the background and support some incredible flow. As the title implies this song is the positive counterpoint to the one that preceded it.

Tackling the often polar aspects of life are “TV Show” and “Sadly Ever After.” The first piece is light and clever, the majority of the lyrics being strung together through TV show titles, with the chorus, “Life’s not like a TV show.” Closing with, “This message has been close captioned for the third eye impaired.” On the other side of the coin are sad and musically sparse tales of loss and tragedy featuring more singing than rapping. He reminds us with “Tomorry” that even the hardest things always seem better in the morning. An up front baseline and a modified Annie melody in the chorus support the song.

Checking in halfway though, a wicked funky Sly and the Family style sample complete with horns provides the appropriate background music for “I wanna know if you’re digging it and if you’re digging it say yeah.” Yeah! Unfortunately he loses me with the next track, “Aaron, Ab, Abbey,” which is two minutes of various personal phone messages. Okay, we get it, you get a lot of people calling you. Fortunately, he redeems himself with the remainder of the album, which includes, “Parables,” a song that uses fables as modern social commentary.

In order for something to be rejuvenated, it first needs to be in a state of decay. Abstract Rude deftly navigates the negativity, acknowledging it without being drawn down by it. Rather than anger at a broken system, he remains positive and hopeful. Rejuvenation does not come through continued decay, but rather through life and joy (and, apparently, a whole lot of weed.) The joy is apparent, not only in the feel good samples but also in the words and the flow, delivered with a high degree of intelligence and creativity. Rejuvenation reminds us that, even in the darkest ghetto, blades of grass push up through the cracks in the concrete.

Tagged as: Hip-hop, Los Angeles