Reks - Grey Hairs

1) Grey Hairs
Nice track, good production by Blaze P. The chorus was a little annoying, when he started repeating “its all grey hairs,” but the verses are on point, with Reks making it clear what his ideas and views are, with lines like: “Cause we don’t let the radios make us different/Getting grey hairs from all of that anger building/I’d be lying if I say I ain’t aging, sensing/A bit of change in my ageless wisdom/What are we to do now, for our ageless victims/Who just wish music would return for its senses.” The delivery and lyrics make it clear that Reks really cares for the music, and knows its got problems

2) The One
Nice beat by Statik Selektah (dude’s the future of production, for real). Reks spits dope on this one, goes in and disses people and mentions random problems with everyday life and the world. “What have we learned from the rappers who got killed?/All of this commotion in rap, most of its not real” is good. I didn’t like how after each “verse” or section of the song (there’s no chorus) he sorta repeated the end line, but I did like the repetition on the “I am not…”s; example: “I am not a rapist, still I believe you can get touched” and “I am not a racist, but I do not believe any quality nigga spit, honky follow me.” Dope spitting on this one, for real.

3) Say Goodnight
Some people dislike this Premo beat, some people do like it; I’m in the latter category (though I wasn’t a fan of the song clips on the chorus). Either way, Reks goes IN on this track. Dope flow, and dope lyricism. This is the first single, and I hope it gets some sort of shine (though it probably won’t). Not gonna go in big detail on this one, but its quite dope.

4) How Can It Be
Statik Selektah with a nice track, the pitch of the sample’s a little bit annoying, but it’s still a dope instrumental. Lyrically, once again, he’s spitting real well: “Revelation: enemy, associate/Whoever get the premonition to fuck with me is over with.” Nice flow as well. The scratching on the chorus is good as well, as one sample declares Reks “An MC’s MC.”

5) Stages
Interesting beat from Large Professor. Nas sample on the chorus and another sample saying “it’s the stages, the phases, that we go through.” Another pretty dope track, I didn’t like the instrumental as much as most of the other ones, and the chorus isn’t that special, but lyrically its good. His flow’s really good on this one. It’s a good track lyrically, though not as good as some other oens.

6) All In One (5 Mics) feat. Lil’ Fame
Reks (and Lil’ Fame) imitate and pay homage to Biggie, Pac, Big L and Big Pun. The track is well done, and the imitations are pretty good, they get the flow and delivery down. I liked Fame on this one a lot, held his own with Reks. The production’s hard hitting as well. Overall, a really dope track.

7) Next 2 Me
Nice beat by DC the Midi Alien. The song is once again quite good lyrically: “Spitting so effortless/Every breath is as if/I’m the game of tetris/Hold every block down/Name any block round/I connect with it…” His flow is really good. Didn’t like the chorus though, Reks tries singing or something, , and it doesn’t really sound that good when he stretches some shit to make it rhyme, like the line “all these rappers ain’t shit next to me.” Still, the verses are fucking sick.

8) Money On The Ave feat. Skyzoo
Simple beat by Soul Theory, but I like it. The song title is misleading, as this is actually not glorifying money or coke dealing; it really has the point of view of a kid rapping, watching neighbors and local thugs sell drugs, filled with the frustration. The chorus includes lines like “The money makers on the ave/And they be getting dough/While I was tryin’ to rap/Nigga they were selling blow.” The verses have a really clever point of view of a struggling rapper being drawn to the more successful drug dealers, showing (much better than any coke rappers can, mind you) why people can be drawn to that culture: you can’t make money easily rapping. As Reks spits (from someone else’s point of view), “Diddy ain’t gon’ pop into your hood/And change your life, make the shit all good/Like shit ain’t fucked up on the streets/So to eat we keep/ them goods in the projects/Its all economics/You disagree, God bless, wish you the best/But you from Lawtown, Mass, who gon’ listen to Reks?” Still, they make it clear that they enjoy the choice that they made, to stay involved with rap.

9) Black Cream (The Negro Epidemic) feat. Big Shug
Don’t really like the best, and Shug’s singing on the chorus wasn’t anything special, and the message has been not a lot, particularly recently (Nas, Untitled, in stores now). Still, the verses are nice, with lyrics that are quite true, such as: “Everybody ain’t Kanye West, Lord/I try to tell the kids get a dream you can afford/But kids wanna stunt, smoke blunts and impress broads/Sip on syrup cause they idol got his cup/What this does/Is make it harder to give a fuck, the impulse/To ball got Cosby pissed off/That buck that bought the bottle could’ve struck the lotto/To invest in scratch tickets is a fucked up motto.” More dope spitting by Reks.

10) Love Sweet Misery
Wasn’t liking the sample at all, it was sorta ignoring to me, and the beat is sorta soporific to me. Still, once again, Reks spits real dope on this one. But the production’s lacking IMO, a rare miss from Statik, just didn’t like the beat. Nice flow and lyricism though.

11) Rise
The beat is nothing special, and the chorus is a bit dumb (“we all rise from the bottom to the top…” oh, really?). Not as good as some other songs. Not bad, by any means, but it wasn’t anything special.

12) Telescopes feat. Jon Hope & Lucky Dice
Liked the placid, serene feel on this beat, and also liked the chorus a lot. Both Jon Hope and Reks are dope rappers from MA, and both spit real well on this one. Lucky Dice’s verse isn’t as good (random lines like, “hey, hey, hey, you’re a super-superstar” sorta take away from it), but the song is still overall good. Nice cultural references to talking about life events and change/hope. Nice blend, nice production, nice lyrics, nice track.

13) Day 2
Production is ok, but the breathing/sighing in the background is annoying. Still, nice chorus/verses as he talks about mistakes in his life and how he wants to start over, all in regards to his love life. I didn’t like how he let the sample go on for a bit before the third verse, but the storytelling is there, and the lyrics are nice, as he talks about how he was “a dog from day one” in his relationship.

14) Premonition feat. Consequence & Termanology
This feels a bit more like a Consequence tracks, with him talking at the beginning and on the first chorus. Still, it’s a nice track about their lives. Both guest rappers did well, Termanology particularly, and I like how they mentioned their names in the verses. Reks also has a dope verse, I like how he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s flawed in his verses, helps the listener connect a bit more. Nice job by Statik on the beat.

15) My Life feat. Paula Campbell
Like the production and I like how the singing and rapping blend well. He talks about a few different events, has a real nice flow on this one as well. Some dope lyrics in here: “I feel the spirit in my lyrics of the ghosts’ path/Try to awake ‘em when I scribble on my notepad.” Nice, laid back beat, and Reks does it justice with some introspective lyrics.

16) Cry Baby
Nice storytelling on this song about a teenage pregnancy, which is then revealed to be about Reks’ life and mother. The first verse is about his mom, second is about him as a young kid, third about him as a teen. Got a lot of emotion in this, with him regretting showing disrespect to his now dead mom. Nice lyrics, and a nice chorus with Reks asking: “It made dear mama weak, what will it do to me?” Introspective, personal, and good lyricism? Dope.

17) Long While
Once again, thinking about the past. These about the homies who he hasn’t seen in a long while. Nice lyricism and a good beat. Good mix of reminiscing and missing, and the lyricism is still on point. Nice flow and delivery, it compliments the instrumental well. Not much else to say, just another good song

18) Big Dreamers (Lawtown Remix) feat. Termanology & Krumbsnatcha
Nice track, remixing a cut from Statik Selektah’s album. The chorus is pretty good, but the verses are much better. Again, not much to say on this one, just some real nice lyrics over a good beat.

19) Isiah
A little religious, but a nice beat, chorus, and lyrics. Some nice lines on this one, “I am forgiven, so I must forgive/Driven to do more than just scribble sentences with relentlessness/Paying rent, making sense, till my day is spent/If its meant to be rap, Lord, finally say its meant” is a nice way to finish it. Dope track.

20) Hidden Track (Pray For Me (Suicide Note))
DOPE track, first track I really heard from Reks that made me a huge fan. Nice Jay-Z sample, dope production, and dope outlook over the state of hip-hop. I could drop quotes, but to be honest, the whole song is just consistently fire lyrically. So just listen yourself.

Grade: A