Download: Dee Low - The Gallery
Dee Low sums his own work with these words: "The Gallery is where the artist is the art. The Gallery is where the rap is the picture. The Gallery is where everything is real, even the people." The Gallery not only caught my eye, it created a buzz in my ear as well.
When listening to a mixtape or an album the first thing I listen to is the production work. I feel that words are easily forgotten, or may get caught on the tip of someone's tongue, whereas a tune can be easily memorized or stuck in someone's head. Sometimes people forget the importance of production skills in music, it is more than the art of beat making, it is the basis of a song, unless the song is in acapella form. When I played The Gallery, I felt the production for the tape is very vibrant, but not too loud. Though the tape is not entirely produced by Monsta Beatz (the executive producers); production work by Flight School Productions, Jonah Schwartz, Monwel Productions, Nesby Phips, and Sevin Ants is also included on The Gallery; all the sounds blended well and show consistency of how hip-hop productions had sound in the 90's.
The second half of a song is its words. Dee Low has his own style on how he flows, quick or slow, it fits the mood of the beats. I always listen to a song as a whole, but with Dee Low's The Gallery, my ears separate his lyrics and his production work. The lyrics are the melody; the production works are the harmony. I know that together that when put together it creates a song, but Dee Low and his features' verses and hooks could have been heard alone. While I'm listening to The Gallery, I felt like I was in a chill café, listening to poets flowing, while incense is burning. His lyrics do not overpower the beats, but it compliments it, something that many artist cannot do.
Dee Low's mixtape, The Gallery, is what it is entitled. Though the mixtape had the same consistent theme, each track had its own interpretation. Putting lyrics and sound to a different medium such as color and visual form gave me pictures of my own, as if I was in a real art gallery looking at art. Each track had its own adventure, whether it was the cops and cowboys from the old west feel or a little chapel with flashing lights in Vegas. I dig this tape overrall, but if I had to pick, my personal favorites from this tape are "Love Me or Not" ft. Sunni Maria and Quicksmith, "3 Devils" ft. J Dolla and "Pimpalicious."
"Paintbrush flow, I got the right stroke. A picture worth a thousand words, but yours a million more. As I paint a beautiful body to this audio, it's coming off the canvas through your stereo." - Dee Low - "The Art Show"
