Every human experience is vastly unique, but also still strangely similar. Your unique personal experience will make you feel as if you're in a world of your very own. Creative souls tend to stay in their own little world, and they wouldn't have it any other way! The latest body of work from hip-hop veteran sympL is cleverly titled "IT'S MY WORLD (AND YOU'RE JUST LISTENING TO IT)". Since '97 sympL has touched the underground rap scene in several different ways to include but not limited to rapping, beat making, booking agent, tour manager, and more. His group had the dope opportunity to open up for Souls of Mischief almost 10 years ago!
Originally from Honduras but now residing in Greenville, SC, sympL has an impressive resume to say the least. I see the dedication, and I believe sympL is a great artist. Blessed to be able to get an early listen to the project, I'm excited to review his latest album.
"One man band/ do it for myself, I'm my number one fan"
sympL - PSYCHOPYROAUDIOPHILE
sympL "IT'S MY WORLD (AND YOU'RE JUST LISTENING TO IT)" | Rap Nerd Review
Before we break down the music, let take a minute to highlight this amazing cover art for the Album! The artwork was created by DroppScience. Watch as he elaborates on the meaning behind the cover art, and his connection to sympL.
The 12 track album opens up with "Ride on" where sympL welcomes the listeners to his unique world. The instrumental on this makes me feel almost as if I'm stepping through a portal into an unknown realm. The law of the land here is clear, sympl has "what you need, but if you think you'll get it for free, you better just ride on". Very nice introduction. The album has instrumental only transitions to help seamlessly transport the listener through this journey. These include "Going Somewhere", "The Ladder", and my favorite one, "Til the break of dawn". That beat break has dope transitions and is SO CRAZY that I damn near laid out some cardboard ready to give my best headspin attempt! sympL is truly an amazing talent for making all of the beats from scratch with no melodic loops. There is no more accurate way to depict your exact vision of the world, than to create everything from one brain.
The complete body of work overall is very solid with fire bars, banging non trendy production, and high sound quality. sympL really gifted us with a wide range of sounds while still keeping the album cohesive and consistent in his positive message. I enjoyed just about every song, but we'll just focus on a few of my favorites and in my opinion the highlights of the album.
Track 5 "Lie to me" is mainly about how these days most of us are slaves to social validation. This is an accurate depiction of the current state of the world. With social media being such a an inspiration force in our society, this is a message that's difficult to ignore. The ending on this track is intense. At this point in the album I started to compare sympL's production style to the like. os RZA and timbaland combined! "The American way" details how this country is nothing more than a drug dealer/ pharmaceutical industry. The production on this track feels fast paced like life, and digital like the current times. This song highlights chemical addictions that americans pay millions of dollars for daily. Things that are bad for us, but feel so good, are keeping America in business. Track 11 "It's My World" sums up the album's main theme. On this join sympL spits some real confident bars in true hip-hop fashion!
"This game, it made me an animal/ Whack rappers they made me a cannibal." - sympL - "It's My World"
The rhymes on this track are super complex and give me that hardcore hip hop sound that I love. "Milk n Honey" focuses on sympL's most personal thoughts about his music career. He elaborates on how he puts everything he has into his craft. He makes it clear that his goal is not to get rich, but to remain true to himself and do what he loves. I admire the creatives that aren't making music with an ulterior motive.
Overall the album is amazing and I'm glad sympL was not afraid to experiment with a anew sound. Although I love the traditional boom bap sound, It's awesome to hear a little experimentation. He even gets extra kudos for creating this masterpiece all alone. I will definitely continue to follow his journey and I suggest all of you rap nerds do the same!
Sincerely,
D-Sick aka "Rap Nerd"
Rap Nerd Rating (4 out of 5)
written by Derek "Rap Nerd" Moore
RapNerd.Online
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