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Onry Ozzborn and Barfly have someone they want
you to meet.
His name is Norman, and Norman has issues!
On his album, “Polarity” he’s going to try and
exercise them.
When I saw Norman opening for The Streets at
Chop Suey last month I stopped to talk to Onry because the
show was pretty impressive.
Backed by JFK, Barfly and Onry gave what was,
although pretty short, a dope performance.
Onry told me that Norman was their alternative
sh**t, and after listening to the album, I won’t argue with
him.
But it’s good. It’s also ambitious,
because “Polarity” is a concept album about Norman, a fu**ed
up outcast kid who, on track seven, Weastwick United F.C., is
packin’ a gat at during his soccer game, a scene straight out
of The Last Boy Scout.
One of the great aspects of Seattle Hip-Hop is
that since it’s relatively young, it hasn’t gotten to the
point where its constricted by the “rules of the game” (and to
whoever made them up, eat a fat one, the more the music
expands the better it gets). You can hear all kinds of
influences on this album, from rock and roll to weird gothic
sh**t. Onry and Barfly aren’t afraid to
bend the rules and break them to get what they want.
Onry, as has become expected of him, brings
dope lyrics and to what is becoming an untouchable flow to the
tracks. He rides beats like a jockey, and although the
subject matter can get a little out there, he manages to make
it all sound natural.
Barfly, while not quite at Onry’s level, holds
his own spitting some dope lines and keeping things
interesting.
Lyrically the album is about what you would
expect from these guys, some witty stuff, some deep stuff and
some what the ?@!*# stuff. I hate to use the term
“underground” or “backpacker” to describe music, but sometimes
the rhymes go of into a stream of consciousness jag that might
leave some people wondering what the hell they were on when
they wrote it.
Which isn’t to say it ain’t good, cause it is.
Overall, they manage to stay within the confines of the
concept, the weird little world inhabited by Norman and his
f**ed up psyche. It’s a glimpse inside the mind of all the
weirdos and misfits and losers everybody hides deep down
inside and tries to convince the rest of the world don’t
exist.
Production wise, Onry, Smoke and Pale Soul hold
the boards down, bringing that signature Old Dominion sound to
the table.
I got a little tired of it listening to Old
Dominion’s first crew album, but on Norman they mix things up
enough to keep from getting repetitive. Keeping with
what Onry told me about the alternative nature of the project,
as a whole the production lands on the trip hop side of the
table, not all the way, but certainly not what a lot of folks
would consider “pure” hip hop.
I’d argue that point with them, but that’s a
whole ‘nother joint. Pleasantville, Hiphop. Ver. 1.7 and
Construction are standouts, the last cut being an up tempo
joint that will keep the head nod factor in full effect.
Martyr is dope too.
The best track on the album has got to be
Hiphop. Ver. 1.7., where Onry takes all the haters to task for
not giving the Seattle scene and its acts props for being real
Hip Hop. Spitting venom at all of them he stakes his claim as
an artist and lays the Smack down (word to Wrestlemania) on
anybody who thinks they have the right to be the gatekeepers
of the art and decide who’s real and who’s not.
Norman was definitely worth the $11.99 I
dropped at Sonic Boom Records.
Check it out and see what’s going on their
world.
Like Norman would say, it’s “la la la la
lovely.”
-Bear
Kill_yr_TV@hotmail.com
Ratings
 -
What the #%&* is that?
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Don’t quit your day job.
-
It’s aight, but…
-Hot
album, go cop it.
-Classic,
‘nuff said.
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