deM atlaS - Charle Brwn EP

Posted on the 31 January 2014 by Ripplemusic

Waveriders, I'm not going to lie to you.  2013 was an ugly year for my mental state.  The truth is that I was unhappy.  Why is this relevant?  Because my mental health directly affects what kind of music I listen to everyday.  If you're familiar with my work here on The Ripple Effect you know that hip-hop is normally a big part of my musical diet.  When I'm unhappy however I become solely interested in ugly, dissonant, noisy metal.  Well I made some necessary changes and I am once again a pretty happy guy.  Yeah!  Enter deM atlaS and his Charle Brwn EP.
I discovered deM atlaS after receiving an email telling me he had been signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment.  To properly introduce their new signee they offered a link to download this Charlie Brown inspired EP for free.  Me?  Turn down free tunes from a label I trust?  Not likely!  I clicked on the download link, unzipped the file, loaded up the music and hit play.  Lo and behold, this guy is fantastic!  I was hooked after hearing his first verse.  Here is a good chunk of it (as accurately as I can transcribe it anyway)...
"No one understands me, not even my f!@#ing family / Like stand by me / My problem is the one I can't se.../ Can't be the only person living this in misery / If I am / I'm gonna be the spark in the sea of trees / I can't be / Voice for the generation get it now / Get it how / Like I only hear the sounds of my head / They too loud / No, no they too quiet / Guess my only option is to silence the impending riot / Impending violence covered in the color turbulence / And hope my current state of mind is where do I find 'em at / To say where I be at / Because it really doesn't matter if it's this or that"
Excellent wordplay!  Excellent lyrical flow!  I hear the influence of Black Thought, Kool Keith, Andre 3000, and Fatlip upon Mr. atlaS' style. Over the course of the EP he drops direct and indirect references to artists I enjoy such as The Roots, The Pharcyde, Gorillaz, Common, and Slick Rick.  These are all good things!  Plus, have you ever heard an entire EP based off of Peanuts characters?  I know I had not.  Now I want to hear more!
So, are you a fan of quality hip-hop?  Check out this free, top-notch EP.  Do you love Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts?  You'll really love this free EP!  Maybe you need to listen to something laid back and groovy?  I mentioned that this EP is free right?  No?  Shame on me.  The Charle Brwn EP is free.  Go get it!
-- Penfold
http://dematlas.bandcamp.com/