Album Review: Osato “worsHIPHOP”

Osato “worsHIPHOP”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: Hipknokerz
Rating: 3 (Out of 10)
[xrr rating=3/10]

I heard about Osato a while back from another Christian hip-hop blog and was supposed to turn in some tracks for his consideration. I now know that I should have done it because he can definitely do his part in ripping it up! What jumped out at me as I listened through the album was that no matter what style of music was on, he had a consistent and professional delivery. He was confident in his lyrics and knowledge in his subject. But I also found myself jumping through the tracks as well. Many of the beats had great intros that got me all hyped up to bang, but many times didn’t deliver the “bang”. If it wasn’t for how talented Osato was, I would have just skipped to the next track and not even listened to the whole song. I think that the production of this album held the overall production and quality back, and Osato would benefit from rapping on better beats. I will predict that as Osato continues to record, he will become one of my favorite MC’s to listen to. I also cannot praise him enough for putting in the extra ethnic worship at the end of Higher! Being from Miami, I miss being exposed to different cultures (I live in South Carolina now) and worshipping with “other tongues” being expressed. It was a wonderful slice of Heaven on Earth and spoke to my heart.

Bang on Em provided a great crunk type feel with good metaphors and a steady cadence. This is definitely a track where the guest rapper did better than the lead lyricist. PK showed different types of flows seamlessly and with confidence. Captain Flashlight went bananas on that intro and verse. Change Me was a track that had better flows (PK smashed it again) than the beat, and Osato had a really good mature sound on this track. Same as Chasing After You, Osato delivered a passion-driven recording. Some of the tracks suffered from a not-so-spectacular hook, but Osato saved it from being tossed. Even with that, I prefer to have more depth in lyrics and content, and felt that the same level of lyricism was spread throughout, and would rather have a deeper connection with word play and skill. Although I loved how he brought a cultural taste of worship, it was different only for one track and felt that he could have more depth in content and creativity. This is a testament to how the other tracks didn’t share the same impact as the selected few did. Overall, the message is on point, no qualms there, but the audio presentation was not always pleasing.

In a closer analysis of this project, I felt that the originality and creativity was sporadic and inconsistent. Some of the songs were on point musically and others seemed like a friend did the beat and Osato rapped on it as a favor. The first couple of songs were ok, but I kept on hearing the same level of rapping throughout the project. I would have liked to hear different cadences, more in depth word play and different topics being talked about. It’s like if one song by itself couldn’t hold up without the rest of the tracks. Maybe Osato is not the type of rapper that goes deep in word play or story telling? If that is the case then I cannot fully sign off Osato being a lyrical dopey, but has much room to improve to be more lyrically diverse.

Comprehensive Rating:

• Music – 2.5
• Flow – 3.5
• Creativity / Originality – 3
• Relevancy – 3
• Content & Character – 3.5
• Credibility & Confidence – 3.5
• Personality – 3.5
• Presentation Quality – 2
• Overall Production Quality – 2.5
• Potential Impact – 3