Album Review: Monro – “DMV – Dedicated to Manifest Victory”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: HipKnokerz
Rating: 8.9 (Out of 10)
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On my first round listening, I really didn’t even listen to the lyrics, because that is how busting the beat selection on this album is. Love the variety, and the quality of these tracks could carry an amateur dyslexic to some music award! Now, that being said, lets cut up this project to see what we have.
I love the different types of beats that this project carries. This automatically grabbed me as a listener. After the 10th time I heard it, I started to pay attention to the lyrics, in particular the word play and effectiveness of the message. Monro comes across as a conversationalist, using his flow like if he was actually talking straight to a person. I really was looking forward to some more in depth word play and story telling, especially to match the type of beats he was spitting on. I felt like I was given an expensive, shiny China plate with a three day old piece of meatloaf with dried up sauce on it. Now don’t get me wrong, the album is hot, and way better than average, but I feel that his skill at this time is not par with the beat selection, hope this makes sense.
The vent sessions were refreshing, because it wasn’t set up like a regular song, more like snippets on a beat. My favorite track by far is VENT SESSION 2, Flawless Tracks KILLED it! OMG my favorite track period!! Made me feel like I was SupaFLY walking down the street, picking my fro out! OOOWWWW!!!! Great topics covered. I feel like the production was more than the artist. FlawlessTracks.net, secular or not, dues are in order, because they came with the heat, AMAZING production. Now back to Monro…
Monro chose some good topics to write about, like on Vent 2. Another track that’s great is ALWAYS BE DOWN. When I heard this track I felt like I was Superman!!! Them horns come in when I rip my shirt and expose the S on my chest!! Definite HYPE beat!! Aint feeling me is another track that shows diversity. Love how the double time rhythm is set off with the up and down synth and ambient with the background vocals. Bass is sick. I like the way he raps, where there is a different cadence within the same track. It doesn’t sound awkward. He is a conversationalist, not really a word play person, but at least there is a purpose and theme in his songs. And that Johnny Juliano beat is SICK! I think I threw up in my mouth a bit, lol.
He explores thoughtful music in tracks like Can’t LOVE YOU. This is probably my top topic on this album. He gives great advice to the couples out there. Pay attention! I would change the reverb on the bridge, sounds like it was a little too much. Until Next Time is another amazing topic that was covered. Talking about missed opportunities to reach others is one that more people need to be aware of in our Christian walk. Great content and writing, and the beat was on point. Production is on fire, great choices for this project. I don’t prefer the autotunes though.
Monro also has some tracks that are on par with commercial quality radio plays, like SPECIAL and the anthem beat WE MADE IT. LOUD is a trap type beat, with catchy banging bass. Love how the hook comes in with that soft touch and riding feel! If people are comparing Monro to Drake, it’s probably because of this song, on how he autotuned a talking part, then the beat dropped with him rapping normal on it. It’s on many Drake songs. Just saying.
Overall, this album is staying on my rotation, but I am looking forward to Monro stepping up his lyrical game next time.
1. Music – 9
2. Flow – 7
3. Creativity / Originality – 8
4. Relevancy – 10
5. Content & Character – 10
6. Credibility & Confidence – 10
7. Personality – 10
8. Presentation Quality – 8
9. Overall Production Quality – 9
10. Potential Impact – 8
