Vintage and Theory Hazit - Lord Fire(Indie)
Before you can truly appreciate this album you have to understand the history behind it. First lets start with the mouthpiece of 'Lord Fire' which is none other than the emcee known as Theory Hazit. Now Theo has been making beats himself for years but most notably he is a refreshing emcee with a gift for writing thought-provoking and highly enjoyable MUSIC.
Its one thing for an artist to simply take a boom-bap format and insert their 16 bar verse followed by an 8 bar chorus and repeat until a desired track length is reached... and then hoist it onto the masses for consumption. However, what this artist makes is justly regarded as "rare" among his peers. Theory although rooted in the fundamentals of hip-hop (dejaying, emceeing, beat producing, etc.) is also a linguist and a mic personality.
Theo's word play is often sprawling with cunning word play along side the occasional singy-song raps injected with puns and jabs. Those elements on one accord are intellectually formatted to make listening to his points both easy and enjoyable. Theo's style is a high contrast from other artists who's dumbed down lyrics fall short of a point (or at least the impact of one). He also contrasts those who's tracks seam to fall into place with the standard formatting of what is expected from a hip-hop song. This is why I believe Theory Hazit is quickly arising among a rare breed of emcee and why he is getting allot of new found attention among hip-hop purists... both Christian and general market alike. A feat that few have been able to obtain. To list a few I would include Braille, Othello, Surreal, The Remnant, 4th Avenue Jones, Mars ill, Tunnel Rats, LMNO, The Breax, Sev Static, Dirt, etc... Now enters in Vintage. An upcoming Virginia based producer with an ear for the golden era sound where DJ Premier beats where law and crate diggers scoured for breaks in dusty basements of record stores like gold miners looking for treasure. Organic drum laden bass lines that amplified crispy guitar licks and abstract sounds of Mo Town and Jazz... Pumped loud in the car until you feel your chest tighten up and your heart rate race... finding your arms uncontrollably bouncing in the air to the rhythm. Yup that about sums up the production on 'Lord Fire'.
Vintage who's production credits include the single "I Just Wanna Go Home" off Theory Hazit's Hip Hip IS Music release "Extra Credit" handles all the production on 'Lord Fire'. This is proving the single's strength goes beyond a one-track wonder. Vintage actually has several tracks in rotation among some of the latest solid releases... some of which include: Surreal "Permanent Ink" featuring Braille and Sivion... Surreal "The Proof" featuring Absalom... Scribbling Idiots "Almost Famous"... Also off the Theory Hazit "Extra Credit" album Vintage production can be found on "Decisions" featuring Sivion and Holmskillit and "Out With A Bang" featuring Poems. If you are familiar with any of these gems then your high expectations are already underway.
As per Hazit's myspace page and YouTube home shot promotional videos... the project came together as producer Vintage began sending Theory Hazit beats to get his feedback. Soon Theo had a nice collection of beats that he became inspired to put together what he at the time thought would become a free download in mixtape fashion of Vintage beats featuring Theory Hazit vocals. After letting a few of his peers hear the results of the collab's they convinced Theo that this was meant for the World to hear and should definitely be treated like an official and legit release. So as the story went Theory and Vintage continued to invest their time in the project and work together to complete the tracks and put in work to do it right. Later... the result would be 17 songs worthy of a "Classic" tag alongside an A+ effort that everyone should consider a staple in their 2008 collection of hot new releases.
Quite possibly the most intriguing point that Theory mentioned in his home recorded promotional videos was that he kept in tact the names Vintage called each beat when he originally sent them. Typically a song isn't named until it is complete and usually derived from the lyrics. In this case however, Theory was inspired not only by the beat itself but by their name given by its producer. This makes for some unique titles... case in point "Soph Sissy". Not a typical way an album comes together to say the least but it was striking to me and something that stuck in my head when listening to the songs.
So I've already broken down the artist... I've told you what to expect on the production... I've even given you a precursor that the album is a CLASSIC. What else can I really say about 'Lord Fire' that I haven't at least eluded to so far?
Lets get down with a few of the tracks and dig a little deeper...
The first mention goes to "All Love" featuring the vocal additions of Elias who really brings the overall tone of the track to the right place needed to pull at your heart strings. Theo begins... "Dear Momma, its messed up that we don't speak. It all started when you said some foul things to me... But I talked with some friends... I went to them for advice... they was like... thats your Mom's put an end to that fight. Cause she stuck with you... from beginning of life... first step, first word to the sinking of life... its all love. And love is a serious thing... When you love someone and all they cause you is pain.".
Thats just a taste but the main course is best served in whole as Theo tells a story of his troubled adolescence and heart. He continues to explain how he loves his parents and how it hurts when people you love do you wrong. How his Mom supported him regarding hip-hop and brought him up in the Word. He reminisces several times on this album how music tied into his up-bringing and how music was an escape when things often got tough to deal with. He speaks on his estranged relationship with his Dad and how he's thankful to have time left on this Earth to make a mens. The general theme here is paraphrased in the Elias chorus "...you did the best you could... you would change it if you could... but I say... its okay... all I got is love to give."
Theo tells all with this deep introspective track about what I presume is his non-fictional life from a first person perspective. I absolutely LOVE these types of songs. I've mentioned this before in reviews that artists who draw us as listeners into their world make some of the most die-hard fans. Its because we feel as though we now know the artists and we have an audible window into their lives. Also because they trust us as listeners to share their lives we respect them for that. Additionally we as listeners can sometimes relate to the those described in these songs either figuratively or directly. Something not too often found by todays standard of braggadocios pop-rap.
Moving on the guest features of 'Lord Fire' include (as mentioned) Elias as well as the rest of the Scribbling Idiots (Theory's home crew) on several tracks... Additionally Aletta and Lindsay Orr on the lead single "Grizzly"... Playdough on "Soph Sissy"... Raphi (of Tunnel Rats) and Braille on "Nobody Say"... Ohmega Watts on "Jive Turkey"... and Klarity, Freddie Bruno and Sivion on "Simply ill". A lean list but full of heavy hitters.
If I had to find fault on 'Lord Fire' it would be pretty hard to do. To nit pick it would be pointless because this is truly a solid release and probably near flawless as far as content goes. However I will make a small note that the beats... although well produced... and the tracks overall could have been more polished and professionally mixed. With simply the duo of Vintage and Theory putting this together I don't think there was an elaborate budget or even a modest one at that for hiring a professional mixing and mastering team like "Extra Credit" for example. However, I have to note its not sonically bad at all. Just not as polished as it could be. Some high notes can get a bit crunchy here and there on the samples and hi hats. Also in some tracks I would have liked to hear hitting a bit deeper and stronger on the low end but if you are not a picky audiophile like me you probably won't even notice.
So there you have it folks. 'Lord Fire'... produced by Vintage with Theory Hazit on the mic. A classic hip-hop album that you need to own! Go pick up a copy and enjoy your summer with some quality music!
Oh... and I also noticed the irony of the insert packed inside each CD. Vintage Clothing Limited (VintageLimited.com) who sponsors Theory Hazit (seen wearing a Vintage Limited hoodie and t-shirt on the cover of Lord Fire) has a special promotional code included on an insert packed inside the jewel case good for a 10% discount at the brands web store. A special promotional insert teamed up between Vintage Limited and Theory Hazit for fans. The irony here is the producer Vintage and the clothing brand Vintage Clothing Limited (no relation by the way -- totally separate!). I just thought that was a pretty cool way to bring it all together.
For fans of: Braille, Othello, Surreal, Scribbling Idiots, Deepspace 5, Mars ill, 4th Avenue Jones, Vintage (production), classic organic hip-hop production and intelligent relevant and personal lyrics.
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Theory Hazit has really been moving up in the past year, being a featured artist on many tracks for different emcees from Ohmega Watts to Surreal. Theory is also a very talented producer, producing for the Scribbling Idiots who also just released an extremely talented album. Theory also has a solo record that has also been receiving rave reviews. So what can Theory do now? How about do another solo record except this time team up with another talented producer in Vintage. What do you get when you mix Theory Hazit with Producer Vintage, enter Lord Fire.
This is yet another emcee and DJ collaboration, which is starting to become a common mainstay in Christian Hip Hop, (examples being Surreal and DJ Balance, Othello and DJ Manwell, SevStatik and DJ Dust, ManChild and DJ Dust) Theory Hazit and Vintage have also joined the bandwagon. The two succeeded just like the ones mentioned in parenthesis. Theory Hazit is a very interesting emcee and he's one of the prime examples of a turnaround in Christian Hip Hop and he talks about it in his music. This is speculation, but I'm guessing Theory and Vintage met through Vintage's partial production of The Scribbling Idiots The Have Nots album. Another interesting aspect of the album is the guests featured on Lord Fire which include: Playdough, Raphi (aka Big Shame), Sivion, Ohmega Watts and many others. So how does this hold up to other Christian Hip Hop albums?
Right off the bat you realize the album has an interesting sound, a mixture between old school and now. You can easily recognize and distinguish the difference between both. It's only right that I tell you now, every single song on Lord Fire is awesome, the production and lyricism behind the album is genius, along with guest appearances from emcees in the four big hip hop groups (The Scribbling Idiots, Tunnel Rats, Lightheaded and DeepSpace5) just makes this album amazing.
The album snags you from the beginning taking your ears on a journey you will never forget, but the first memorable track (and my favorite track on the album) is early on in Lord Fire. "All Love" is the most heartfelt track on the album, which deals with one of Theory's darkest parts of his journey to Christianity: his parents. While Theory doesn't give details about what happened between him and his parents, he plays both sides of the field saying how both parties messed up, badly. Theory apologizes for all he has done and gives his parents credit for trying their best to raise him. What also takes this track to the next level is the addition of Elias to the track. He doesn't rap on the track he's a singer and in this song he handles the chorus. The beat is also superb with the high hat in the background and the deep bass line makes this song the best on the album.
Playdough who is part of DeepSpace5 is the next artist who gets a verse with Theory Hazit in the song "Soph Sissy" which is an entire track that takes a shot at the mainstream hip hop world. This song should be one of the anthems for Christian Hip Hop. While I love Theory Hazit as an artist, I believe Playdough's verse outshines Theory's (sorry Theory Hazit). Here's a snippet.
"You're so thugged out, so hood with your pedicure
Gun in your holster for your dinner date with Bennifer
Fools ain't grimy, live large and tiny
8 by ten gloss he's shiny
Polished and perfect,
But ain't got no elbow grease…"
So as you can see the song pretty much dogs out the entire mainstream hip hop community and for that I say thank you Playdough.
"Nobody Say" is another track great-sounding track on Lord Fire. The track features Braille and Raphi (aka Big Shame) both add another dimension to this tune. Raphi and Theory Hazit rhyme on their long journey through Childhood to where they are now, Braille on the other hand raps about where he end up after his journey and how he's enjoying life. What sets this song apart from the others is the beat. Vintage did an extremely good job producing this track, using the slight guitar riff along with keyboard to create the perfect example of old school and new school combined together.
In the end Lord Fire is an amazing example of Christian Hip Hop prowess, in other words Theory Hazit and Vintage should definitely get together again because it could only result in one thing: Awesomeness. While this album is extraordinary it has a couple flaws, first the sound, don't worry there are no annoying beeps or scratches, but it's not loud enough. It's almost like while Theory rapped loud enough it seemed like Theory recorded the album then Vintage took what Theory gave him, made soft beats and turned down Theory's voice. This is a slight shortcoming all this means is that you're gonna have to turn up your MP3 players a little louder when listening to Lord Fire. Another slight problem is the language specifically the use of the N-Word. The word is mentioned in two songs "Jive Turkey" and "Simply Ill", Theory doesn't say it, two of the guests say it (one being Freddie Bruno the other I have no idea who it is). Even with this language the album is still a big step in the right direction and I really hope Theory and Vintage team up again for what would most likely be another amazing album
Good
The mix of old school and new school beats mesh well together
The many guests on the album add another dimension to the album
All 17 songs are amazing and creative
Bad
The use of the N-Word is a big turnoff
The sound quality is kind of soft (but not too soft)
Rating: 4.5/5 (Get It, You'll Love It)