Baptism Under Fire review

Review: 4 out of 5.

I'm back again people,

It's been about two weeks since my last review on Drake's album. I had a couple loose ends that needed to be tied up and have been a little busy in those weeks but I'm now in the game. Before I start, I would like to keep a notice that at some point I may review classics as well as what's new also. So, those hardcore fans out there, don't feel left out. Change the subject, let's talk about some music and today I'm going to review Phoenix Da Ice Fire.

Phoenix released his mix tape, Baptism Under Fire last year on November 2009. I know this because I actually went to one of his launch parties' to promote the CD. At the moment he's recording his new album, but I won't tell you what it is. I will save the title of that for a next review, but I'll give you a clue. If you listen closely, you'll hear a teaser of the album plus it revealed the name of it. His bars are really great and breaks the definition of true Hip Hop. His flow reminds me of Nas because he drives real deep into an almost immeasurable vocabulary, which some might say would be comparable to Busta Rhymes. Probably, even better than Rhymes. Now down to the bones of the structure.

The mix tape, for all intents and purposes, has constructive lyrics and his style has a classic theme on some of the instrumentals that make it authentic enough for older and younger audiences. Phoenix will rob your mind from all the hype before making you "baptised" in the heat that comes from his list of tracks. While others like his track "Eargasm" leaves you feeling good and takes you out of your comfort zone in your normal routine, certain tracks like "Use Your Imagination" borders on a higher level of consciousness. The songs I favour is "Purple Mist", "Coconut" (you've got to try this one), "Ecstasy", "Aryan Sky" and "Use Your Imagination". I also like "Echo" too, most of them I listed are mostly uplifting of the spirit, but there are a few that are very high thinking. Baptism Under Fire did well to balance the margin between freedom of speech and feel good tunes, which plays smooth. However, does it do well enough to value against reviews? Actually, yes it does.

The Good:

Baptism Under Fire was mixed by DJ Roast and features artists like M9, Prophet, Young Roots and J Tha Exodus. The mixes were beautifully laid out. Each track falls in line with the next and improves with each beat. What is good about this is Phoenix does not take long to make his point when it comes to higher thinking hyperbole's and metaphors in his lines and delivers it how it is in order to make your opinion from them. Another thing is the beats, which sounds very classical, but can be easily accepted with new audiences coming up rather than being trashed. In the mix tape, a description within the case tells us the journey he goes through and I do see where he is coming from. The best collaboration is with J Tha Exodus on "Most High". Like Busta Rhymes, Phoenix executes his lines with strong precision, but rather than use just hardcore rhymes, he selects different subjects to play around with. The same thing he does in every track.

The Bad:

There is not many faults to this mix tape, but I will say one thing: it's mainly style. Phoenix said to me himself that he comes from a Garage background. That is not the problem, however, Phoenix has a very fast rapping pace, which could make it hard for some to pick up what he's saying. Sometimes there is no chance for a breather and other instances we cannot pick up the punch lines when he makes them. Although this is the one part I had a problem with, the rest is fine. I give him four stars out of five because the rhymes are deep; albeit a bit controversial but that's how Hip Hop started out, incredible beats, suitable collaboration and fantastic creativity. With a little more scope, this could have been truly impressive. Another tidbit that had brought it down is the mixing is repetitive in some of the tracks, but that is only due to editing so it wouldn't be fair to judge on that sector.

Overall:

All I can say for this is I can't wait until he's new album comes out. I am confident it will be great and I have very high expectations for it. Phoenix has obviously spent a long time building this mix tape up like fire. I will listen to this until my eardrums fry. The CD has great originality, tackles interesting subjects, a good composition and has a bonus track to go with the package. If you learn from your audience you will go on clear and keep perfecting what you have. I'll leave on to say the next two reviews I will do involves a game, one from a video game console for an open world action-adventure released in June last year and a film that involves a group of mercanaries and convicts thrown onto a planet and soon realise they are playing a game and that they are the prey.

- Written by Kbon