Album Review: William Wallace – “Open It”
William Wallace – “Open It”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: Neil Christian
Rating: 3.5 (Out of 10)
[xrr rating=3.5/10]
When I saw the name William Wallace pop in my email, I thought somebody had made an unofficial soundtrack to one of the greatest movies of all time. Sadly, and thankfully it is not the case. Also similar to the movie, the tale of William Wallace is an anti-climax, whichever way you slice the cake.
Let me get the good things out of the way first. The artist has a unique voice. It’s a cross between Mos Def and Corey Hicks. Intrigued? You should be. But it’s a pity that the voice is not wielded effectively. If it had been, the results could very well have been different.
Let me start with the glaring failure of the album in the production arena. The beats are enjoyable but sound dated and don’t hold any replay value. Also with next to no mixing; it’s painful to listen to. And at the end of the day, an album should be enjoyable and fun. It took work for me to get through the project. The vocals are too loud in certain parts, the background track sounds mawkish and lacks clarity, and there is a disjointed feel between the vocal tracks and the background track.
This fragmented feeling probably arises from a lack of a good microphone to record on, as it seems that the vocals were recorded directly off a laptop mic. Sometimes, such as seen on Be Free, the vocals sound faded in certain parts as the artist moves back from the mic. Advice to artists, if you are going to record, do yourself a favor and invest in a good recording station!
This is just the beginning. There are next to no guest features on the album. Many times I prefer albums in that manner, as it gives an artist time to shine on the project and we get to hear their struggles, however when the rapper is subpar, features would have been a welcome break from the monotonous rapping. The songs are all delivered in the same voice, no decibel change as seen in the aforementioned Be Free. The beat is nice, but the chorus falls flat. With lines such as, “Be free, I got the crowd yelling freedom…” I would imagine this song is meant to hype the crowd but when delivered in the manner he does, it’s a snoozer.
While we are the subject of rapping, he needs coaching. Street rapping and studio rapping are two very different animals. This is painfully evident on God’s DNA where the rapper tries to rap double time but misses the beat; the result is a very awkward moment that would be best forgotten.
Lift You Up is also another song with immense potential; however the rapper doesn’t time his punch lines correctly and fails to place them with the kick, resulting in a much disorientated feeling for the listener.
I also don’t understand the need for the artist to sing. On the outro, which I think was intended to put the listener in a worshipful state, the singing in fact detracts from it. Plain and simple, he can’t sing. He’s not very good. In fact, he’s terrible. I would imagine that there would be at least one person in his church that leads the singing, why couldn’t he reel them in?
At 12 tracks and next to no features, the album is the right length. However, with atrocious mixing/mastering, this was a struggle to get through. William, you definitely have potential, but you need to develop your art, find beats that match your unique voice, find some singers and be a student of hip-hop. That will go a long way in ensuring a worthy product next time around. This album has been tough to review and I really don’t get a kick out of writing bad reviews, however I did have to hang, draw and quarter the project and give an honest critique.
Comprehensive Ratings:
1. Music – 4
2. Flow – 4
3. Creativity / Originality – 3
4. Relevancy – 4
5. Content & Character – 4
6. Credibility & Confidence – 3
7. Personality – 5
8. Presentation Quality – 3
9. Overall Production Quality – 3
10. Potential Impact – 2
