Artist: Random Abiladeze
Album: Indubitably!
Label: Self-released
Rating: 4
If there is one thing that comes out clear in Sacramento hip-hop artist Random Abiladeze’s new album, it is frustration. The artist has taken about as much as he can from record executives, idiotic listeners who misunderstand his music and living among an ever present fakeness. His lyrics and tone of voice are filled with honesty instead of petty anger or detached sarcasm.
Indubitably! is about a man trying to sincerely figure out and deal with all these people around him. It is a testament to Random Abilideze’s self-proclaimed talent that he does not resort to resentment. What is most refreshing about Random Abilideze is his lack of “fronting,” he honestly raps about what he deals with. He is also not aggressive or assaultive, instead relying on insight and criticism. The highlight of Indubitably! is track four “Walk Into My Office” which is a back and forth between Random Abiladeze and a record executive (played by another artist) trying to get Random to sign on with his label. The chorus of the song is “Walk into my office, I will make you star” which sounds cynical and humorous at the same time. The last 30 seconds of the song includes a hilarious parody of modern mainstream hip-hop filled with club beats and auto-tune, sung by self-aggrandizing artists by the names of Swaggy McFly and McSwagger. The songs also includes the brilliant line regarding Swaggy McFly urging his listeners to call him a “swaggit”.
What a listener will get from this album is that Random Abilideze handles himself with a sense of humility that most other hip-hop artists do not and that he manages to stand out from the shuffle of independent, poetic, frustrated, socially-conscious artists out there.
Give these tracks a listen: “Walk Into My Office”, “Brainwashed” and “Let it Go”
For fans of: Nas, Tupac, Common
– Rudy Sanchez
