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Sev One - The BootlegAlbum Review by:
Michael Ivey
Thursday, February 7, 2008
 It’s great to have the biggest DJs in hip hop do drops for your mixtape, but, like anything else, presentation is everything; Sev One’s ‘The Bootleg’ is hooky early; “Drop It” is acceptable club fodder-synth with tribal bass-but “Behind It” is a poor attempt. The song may as well be called “Drop It 2” because it’s content and hook is basically the same. Unfortunately it follows infamous DJ Drama’s entertaining blessing.
Sev’s patient, low tones merge best with what is at times stellar production (“What Do I Gotta Do”) that helps “The Boston Bully” detail his background and reel off strings of unassumingly good rhymes. “It’s funny how the game go, even my old school shit still over they head like a Kango,” Sev raps on the jamming “Pop Ya Colla,” an ideal ride out tune.
The only features in “The Bootleg” are pretty significant ones; next to an unusually solid paragraph by Uncle Murda and a piercing Jadakiss sixteen, Sev’s part makes choosing a favorite verse almost impossible on the tough “Gangsta Shit.” “Believe me dog, we don’t touch it and it still move like Ouiji Boards,” he gloats.
“Gangsta Shit,” with Uncle Murda’s unrelenting hook, is quite well done from the top down- it’s the purest example of how close the general public may be to hearing Sev One consistently and watching him on popular Internet and TV outlets.
Big Mike intros one of Sev’s two story gems in ‘The Bootleg,’ a remixed version of The Ghetto Boyz’ “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” about the perils of the world’s oldest profession. The telling sign of a heart felt emcee is the ability to lyrically indulge in vice then flip it to show a more understanding perspective. “It Don’t Matter” is better than the “compassionate thug” box other critics construct-it’s an honest two verses with basic yet affective beat and hook. Production wise, “Pop Ya Colla” is a step-up -excited keys and attacking horn action give the track fervor. It’s a song much like the dark “Like A Movie,” the atypical smoke out tribute, “Higher,” and the Clinton Sparks produced hit “Boston”- lyrical, yet catchy, anthems. Commercial substance.
Sev’s vocals sound like they’re born in a genuine place; burgeoning production and chorus writing, plus financial backing from G.E.M.S. Worldwide, has the world outside M-A-$-$ taking notice.
Free Download : http://www.sendspace.com/file/mt3nut
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