MF Grimm - Digital Tears: e-mail from purgatory

http://www.sendspace.com/file/mvgqae

1. Intro
2. All Y'all
3. Stable
4. Dr. Death
5. The Deal Is Done (Monte Smith)
6. Go Back
7. Dancin' (produced by J-Zone)
8. Enemy At Home (by Monte Smith)
9. Black Helicopter (Feat. Jihad)
10. Straight Babylon No Chaser (by Monte Smith)
11. Digital Tears
12. Ying & Yang (Ft. Agu Aka Mr. Voodoo, Su-Ann Ortiz)
13. The Way
14. Taken
15. Love Jones (Feat. Jihad)
16. Rotten
17. Voices (The Final Chapter)
18. Happy
19. Superstar J.J. (Feat. Su-Ann Ortiz)
20. Static
21. Outro

Firstly this is technically Grimm under his 'GM (Grand Master) name, its just for organizing sakes that I add the MF. Second I actually dont know a lot about this cd, I know it has production from the likes of J-Zone, X-Ray and some dudes ive never heard of. The album as a whole has a very dark and raw vibe which both works for and against it which i'll explain shortly. Grimm himself is as on point as ever, his lyrics are dope and his flow is sharp, as an mc he hasnt lost a step.

Now ive heard Grimm wrote the majority of this in prison, again Im not going to pretend like this is truth since I know little about the albums background, but keeping this in mind really helps you get a feeling for the album. I said before that the album had a very dark and raw vibe to it, so dark and raw in fact that it almost sounds as if it could have bee recorded in a prison, Grimm literally creates an atmosphere here thats very dark and claustrophobic, paranoid and angry, and above all entertaining. At times though this works against the album, so raw and unpolished is this lp that its sure to turn away new listeners. Its so stripped down to its necessity's that it almost feels as if its missing somthing, at times you'll be waiting for the rest of the beat to kick in only to find that the sparse beat is about as layered as its going to get. Also at 21 tracks it feels a bit bloated.

All of that being said the album is a must for fans, throw on some headphones and you can almost feel yourself sitting next to Grimm in his prison cell. A little more polish could have either helped this album or completely derailed it but as it stands the raw, sparse sound works more often then it doesnt.

Overall - 3/5