Album Review: Patrick Davis – “Every Tribe, The World Album”
Patrick Davis – “Every Tribe, The World Album”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: Neil Christian
Rating: 4.2 (Out of 10)
[xrr rating=4.2/10]
In recent times, too many compilation albums have not lived up to the hype. From 9th Wonder’s Wonder Years to Ski Beatz’ 24hr Karate School Pt. 2; albums such as these have a host of artists from all over the hip-hop world coming together to rap over a producer’s beats. These albums often lack a theme and feel disjointed, like the Hottest 100 on the radio. However Patrick Davis’ effort, Every Tribe – The World Album, is a themed album which should have been a near classic, but instead ended up taking a trip to the dumpster.
Let’s get the good news out of the way first; The production on this album is top notch. From the grungy guitars of Shadow on the Sun to the synth driven Donde Esta La Lluvia, there is a lot of variety on the project. However this is supposed to be a WORLD compilation album. And that’s where it fails. Take a listen to World Keeps Spinnin which features the Nigerian artist Sestor. Having been to Nigeria, it is disappointing to hear CCM styled acoustic track with keys and guitars rather than a Nigerian sound which is quite prevalent in Nigeria but not commercialized in the states. On top of that, Sestor needs some rapping lessons to say the least. That’s not all. The track sounds eerily similar to “Whatever It Takes.”
This trend continues throughout the album. On The Gigantic Figure, the “Indian” inspired track which is just an extended sample of Ravi Zacharias preaching, there are chirpy, cheerful synths present. I’m Indian so I can tell you that it is not an Indian sound at all. This annoying trend continues with I Deny The Resurrection, that features a preacher fromIreland, with no bagpipes. In fact there were no pipes present on the song at all!
The rapping talent on this project is ok at best. The best example of good rapping is Inspiration which features Alan Duncan, whose recent project was phenomenal. On the other end of the spectrum we have XPIGX with his dismal effort on Final Hour. Often, the vocals will not match the track. They feel like they were meant for another track but were just taken and put over the new beat, creating this awkward feeling. Take the metal inspired Shadow of the Sun, with tries to incorporate heavy metal sound with rapping, which fails completely. I’m a metal head and this song should have never seen the light of day.
Ultimately this album was a massive disappointment. I was looking forward to the album when I saw the title. There hasn’t been an album with a premise such as this in hip-hop. Unfortunately, there still hasn’t been an album that has fulfilled a premise of a true worldwide Hip-hop compilation album. With average beats, beats not matching the supposed countries and bad rappers to top it off, this album was a leap in the wrong direction.
Comprehensive Ratings:
1. Music – 4
2. Flow – 5
3. Creativity / Originality – 2
4. Relevancy – 4
5. Content & Character – 3
6. Credibility & Confidence – 6
7. Personality – 4
8. Presentation Quality – 5
9. Overall Production Quality – 5
10. Potential Impact – 4
