Reviewed by David Bain

A quick comment: this album has a dreadful cover. Ignoring this, the actual content, led by experienced Phoenix-based rapper Vocab Malone, is pretty good. It's deliberately "old school", which, in this case, means light-hearted, fun and not very serious. Vocab has worked with quite a few hip-hoppers, including John Reuben, who seems to be a massive influence on the general sound of this album. Guests abound on the project: Pigeon John, RedCloud, Lighthearted, Man Of War are all here with DJs Manwell and Bombay with CrewOne handling the beats side of things. It's all professional with tight tunes, some creative track layouts and some uplifting lyrics. You couldn't ask for much more! Unfortunately you could - it is lacking something. Maybe it's been done before, or perhaps the music sounds a bit old now. Sure, Vocab's rhymes and ministry are bound to be hitting home to his audiences - top marks there. I'm just hoping on the next one, which I hope will happen - it'll be a lot more innovative. Oh, and sorry to bring it up again, sort out the cover design and also, please research the actual meaning of 'Happy Hardcore', because last time I checked it had something to do with a speeded up rave culture.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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