Tedashii – “Blacklight”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: Ed Welch
Rating: 8.15 (Out of 10)
[xrr rating=8.15/10]

What does one expect from a Tedashii project?  Interesting lyrics and a great delivery?  Punishing bass lines that hurt so good?  A great message?  Well, all of the above is present and accounted for in Tedashii’s newest CD, Blacklight.  This album is a great addition to the library.  If you were on the fence for some reason or another, go ahead, hop off and come on in the house and fix you a plate!

One of my favorite songs is “Can’t Get With You”.  The track is so raw with an unapologetic (dare I say, unashamed) bass line that will test your speakers, laced with a sound similar to a little “kiddie” piano.  Tedashii knew exactly how to bring it lyrically on this track using the deepest voice he could muster up to set this song apart from any other song you’ve heard.  …Nope, there aren’t too many rappers around that can do it like this.  I don’t care where you look.

A few other songs that I can keep on repeat are “Reverse”, “He Lives”, and “Last Goodbye”.  I have to make a side comment about “Last Goodbye” though.  Whoever produced this track must’ve really loved Jamie Foxx’s “Fall For Your Type”.  It sounds so much like it that I could literally sing the other song to it and it fits almost perfectly.  Go ahead and try it.  No, I’ll wait.  …See, I told ya!  With that being said, this track seemed more like music fit for singing featuring a rapper vs. the other way around.  But for me to say that is like the pot calling the kettle black.

The album is a pretty diverse mixture of raw bangers, and soft slow meaningful songs with many songs in between.  He even gets a little jazzy with “Living the Life” for those who just wanna ride to a smooth rhythm.

I only have a couple gripes about this project as a whole.  Some of the intros really fell short.  For instance, the first song (“Riot”) is a bad “intro” to the album.  When I heard it for the 1^st time, I liked it because I still had that “new CD” excitement.  But I don’t like this song.  There is nothing about this song that makes me feel like a riot is happening (outside of the “let’s start a riot” chant), because his vocals are so laid back.  This isn’t a riot.  He sounds like he’s chilling and being cool. Also the intro to “That’ll be the Day” was a waste of 30 seconds.  It wasn’t that the singing was bad, it’s just the intro didn’t prepare me at all for the song.  Lastly, the intro to “Not Alone” makes me want to skip the song.  …But I like the song.  Yeah…confusing.

My last gripe will seem small in light of good music, but important when considering the content.  This project is titled Blacklight, but of all of these great songs, “Reverse” seems to be the only song that even attempts to explain what the title is all about.  Once I heard the line of “I don’t shine I reveal, call me Blacklight.”  I loved the concept.  But I hated that this concept wasn’t expounded upon.  Why tease me?  The concept behind Blacklight is a great word for this season, but it wasn’t really given.  Tedashii could’ve easily changed the title of this album to…anything and there would be no confusion.  I’m not saying I’ve memorized all of the lyrics on the album, so maybe I missed a few things.  But this is the title aka the focus of the album.  The message/meaning of “blacklight” should be clearly evident throughout the CD in some way, form, or fashion.  But it’s great music with Christ in the center, so like I said this is a small issue from that vantage point.  With all pros and cons considered, you’d have to be pretty silly to not check this CD out for yourself.  Musically, Tedashii does not disappoint.  Of course, that’s not a big revelation to any of us who have heard him before.  But hey, everybody is a critic.  I’m just the guy who wrote the review.  Peace and much love.

Comprehensive Ratings:

Music                           8
Flow                            8
Lyricism                       7
Content                        8
Creativity                      8
Credibility                     9
Personality                    9
Presentation                  9
Overall Production        8.5
Potential Impact            7