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Sa-Ra - The Hollywood RecordingsAlbum Review by:
John Burnett
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
 Well, as I sat at my crib b**tleggin’ (I mean legally purchasing music), my dude hipped me to this group of artists/producers called Sa-Ra Creative Partners. It was accompanied by claims of it being “the shit” so I listened to it for awhile and tossed it to the side where it became apart of the fodder I call my music collection. I admit I gave it about as much attention as a 2 year old gives a parental lecture but that’s how it goes down when you cop about 6-8 albums a day.
This time around I was assigned to review their upcoming release 'The Hollywood Recordings' so I gathered a bit of intel about the LA based triad. Members of the group, Taz, Shafiq and Om’Mas, have been around for hella’ long producing individually for the likes of Dr. Dre, Erykah Badu, Duran Duran, Lauryn Hill and a shiteload of others. The group formed based off of mutual respect for each other’s music, blew up (built a buzz) when their collective effort leaked over the net, signed with G.O.O.D Music/Sony, and long story short plan on hitting you with that futuristic on their album The Hollywood Recordings.
“Seagull (Intro)”
Here’s a change. There’s no shit talking on the intro. Instead just an instrumental with an ethereal voice over, relaxing hand claps, drum kicks and some electro-sonic elements as well.
“Hey Love”
From the outset, it’s apparent this is not your typical rap, neo soul or R&B album. This track has the group crooning about serenading a love interest. The subject is your typical “court a sexy chick” track but the sound is very atypical with its fusion of electronica and neo-soul.
“Glorious”
Taz carries the vocals for this one. Sa-Ra on this track produces another crooning effort making access of abstract lyricism such as “…so outspoken, high as a kite/I live my life on the edge (brief pause) of a knife/of your kisses and I take flight” The vibe is very laid back and the pace is downtempo.
“So Special”
The group gets assistance from Rozzi Daime who handles the vocals on this one. This track has Rozzi praising a love interest who she claims is the title of the track. The production is smooth with lots of instrumentation including a busy brass section, drums, guitar, piano and a few others.
“And If”
The first rhymes of the LP appear on this effort. On “And If” deals with a similar topic as the prior tracks. Om’Mas rhymes about a woman who’s “fuckin’ him up” (in a good way) and describes her as an intellectual and a beauty; okay track.
“Rosebuds”
“Rosebuds” takes a more sexually explicit tone. This song describes, in detail, lustful interactions between two lovers but they contrast that with descriptions of romantic scenes i.e. star-gazing. Low key this track may be about smoking blunts. Real talk, I couldn’t figure it out.
“Feel The Bass”
The track has a feel of cosmic old school break beat and Talib rhymes on the beat and drops a dope verse. This track sounds like it could have some level of success on the mainstream as a single.
“Not On Our Level”
I guess here, Sa-Ra’s showing their gulliness. They do so through employing CNN; not the station, Capone-N-Noreaga. It’s good to see the boys back together. Hopefully they can put together a reunion album that doesn’t suck balls like Reunion. Capone drops a standard 16 and N.O.R.E. manages to not drop a Cam’ron ABC style verse which he is prone to do.
“White (On the Floor)
This track’s an accelerated call to action for cats in the club. They talk about having swag, exotic models rocking couture and boning them from the back (which is never a problem with me).
“Bitch”
“Bitch” is probably the most provocative track on the album in its explicit references to bending chicks. On the track, Sa-Ra invites girls to be their…bitch (C. Vivian Stringer’s head falls in shame). It’s more so on that intergalactic, spaceship shit that only hipsters understand.
“Do Me Gurl”
This is another track about sexy model chicks. I enjoyed the beat; a lot of piano, synths and possibly a layer of strings. I dig their new wave, electronic sound; the singing and rapping not so much.
“Ladies Sing”
From the outset, the track has a very light feel to it. The production mirrors the tone with whistles, a small voice sample, hand claps and drums. But it’s another track about romancing a woman.
“Sweet Sour You”
When I first looked at the track listing and saw Bilal was on this joint, I looked forward to hearing the track. Although I think Bilal is weird as fuck, I must admit dude flips his vocal like no one else in the game. On this effort, Sa-Ra’s production and Bilal’s crooning definitely have chemistry and make for a good listen.
“Tracy”
This track reminds me of the 80s on that electronic b-boy shit.
“Fly Away”
Erykah Badu laces the hook and lesser known but also dope singer, Georgia Anne Muldrow, collab on this track to provide a female perspective of love. Badu puts it down on the hook and Muldrow also exhibits impressive vocals.
“Lean On Me”
On this track, Sa-Ra shows they’re diverse production skills making a more traditional West Coast beat hence, the Kurupt appearance.
“Fish Fillet”
This track is about eating pussy. Pharoahe Monch makes an appearance to co-sign.
“Thrilla”
“Thrilla” is a tribute to Dilla Dawg (R.I.P.)
“Hollywood (Redux)”
It’s exactly what the title implies. It’s a rehashing of one of their, underground hits, “Hollywood.” The instrumentation on this joint is crazy. The skills of Sa-Ra on the boards are ridiculous.
The Hollywood Recordings is not your run of the mill album. The production is quite unique with real instruments (I’ll reiterate, real instruments) with little to no sampling, a combination of a variety of influences including jazz, latin and electronica. It’s refreshing to hear producers who don’t rely on one technique and show that they are capable of a creating a number of sounds and Sa-Ra does that on this album. Their production is so dope though that it outshines their lackluster singing and rapping. I mean they’re not totally wack but don’t count on one of these cats vaulting for either throne of King of Hip Hop or R&B etc, etc. They’re at their best on collaborations with hand picked artists because they have an apparent talent for composing songs (bringing together all the elements; the beat, the right singer for the right topic so on and so forth). Sa-Ra is not your average rap act. Actually they’re hard to categorize and they like it that way. Hollywood Recordings turns out to be progressive, funky, slightly weird at times, futuristic but an enjoyable listen.
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