#WVCC Reviews “EVAIZE: THE PROLOGUE”
“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”
― Robert Frost
It is one of the most famous poems in American Literature. We were all assigned to read it and interpret it in High School. I’m talking about THE ROAD NOT TAKEN by Robert Frost. A poem about the journey of every day man, the forks in the road that we come upon daily which force us to chose one direction or other, and how these decisions have shaped our lives and led us to the point on our personal maps we currently occupy. This work of literary art begins with the writer looking long and hard down to diverging roads trying to guesstimate which one will be the best route to take. And so the New EP from West Miami MC EVAIZE begins. A vocal sample of THE ROAD NOT TAKEN read by Robert Frost himself comes out of the silence, giving flesh and bone to the poem which I had never heard read before. The audio reading is then back padded beautifully by a sample used by Miami Producer BROWSER BEATS as the melody of “ROBERT FROST”, the intro track to THE PROLOGUE EP. We finally get a taste of Evaize’s filtered voice as he chants “Birth, Life, Work, Death, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat” and comes in with full force, warning that his “Razor blade syllables cut your ear drums going in/ Tsunami’s across the world when I start flowin in – the booth in the lab” . The beat finally smacks you in the face and you get a full sense of this pen wielder’s mastery of his tool. Evaize walks the thin line between realism, surrealism, and cynicism as he introduces you to “The the Quiet* one, the one you never notice/ With the mind* of a scientist and the heart of a poet”. He boasts of his “Robert Frost swag with a Snowy Wooded Vision/ Always step back and see shit from a Distance” and quotes the great American Poet who he heralds as one of his biggest influences, as he agrees that “Taking the Road Less Traveled has made all the difference”.
This track gives way to CONQUER. A layed back, spooky production by beat master Black Tokyo, and a hook declaring “I keep my feet on the ground, never lead myself astray / Conquer anything before me, the World is my Ball of Clay” sets of a rant of “The Cost of Innocence Lost” and how “Truth never comes in Gloss”. He barks on religion confusing its followers, American Pride blinding us of our flaws, and his mission as an indie MC to stay true to his Hip Hop Purest morals. The 2nd verse is vicious attack on sub-par mc’s, worthy of its own serial killer profile.
The 3rd Track on the project is one of my personal favorites and the first joint I heard off the project several months ago when we first started #WVCC #CyphLyfeRadio. Back in September Evaize hit me with an exclusive link to ILLUSION, the 1st Single off of The Prologue project. The sample used by producer BLACK TOKYO hit me with a slap of nostalgia as I recognized it on first listen and went hunting for the record it had been used on. Fans of AceyAlone and his Underground Classic BOOK OF HUMAN LANGUAGE will recognize this sample from the intro of said album. Evaize uses the audio canvas to paint a portrait of man’s obsession with and constant distraction by way of Media. All the mixed messages that we get daily which leave us all confused and how it is all just an illusion to keep us sedated. Evaizes flow on this sick and grimey and the whole vibe hangs tough with anything that Griselda and this new wave of Low Fi Street Hop has released recently.
Every good album needs a good Story Telling track, and any MC worthy of that title needs to try his hand at writing a good story in rhyme form. Which leads me to the 4th track on the album, TRUTH AND LIE. A tale of two women, each with their own seductive strengths and fatal flaws. E writes as a lover who cannot choose between which one of the two to entrust with his heart, as he desires both equally but for different reasons. It is an honest depiction of humanity, torn between the Truth that hurts us, and the Lies that blissfully lead to our ultimate demise.
The Prologue Ep ends on a bitter sweet note. It is Evaize at his stripped down, naked, realist self. No boasting, no bragging. Just spilling his guts on the mic over a melodic Browser Beats production that fits this woeful story of love loss. It is evident that Evaize is sharing with the audience one of the most pivotal moments of his life and some of his most guarded thoughts that have shaped him into the man that he is. The song GOOD DAYS reads like a letter to his Ex, the Mother of his only child. He bares all for the listener and paints himself as the guilty as much as the victim. He admits responsibility for his actions and admits that he still thinks of his Babies Mother and wonders if it could ever work out between them again, and the sobering realization that they would probably end up in the same position all over again. This track especially hit home for me as a divorced father of 3 who has experienced all of these feelings myself, and have rarely had the courage to admit these thoughts. Hearing him speak them on record is therapeutic for me every time I listen to album. The song ends with another Audio Sample of ROBERT FROST poetry which starts
“I have been one acquainted with the Night/ I have walked out in Rain and Back in Rain / I have outwalked the Furthest City Light…”. A little fun fact is Evaize’s daughter’s name just happens to be Rain. This knowledge put a smile on face because I immediately understood the special meaning this poem must have for him. No wonder he uses it as the outro to his first of 3 projects that he plans on releasing in the 2020.
I asked Evaize what was the inspiration and Idea behind the Prologue and the 3 Project series he is working on and he shared the following.
” The vision was to create a three part album, a trilogy, a kind of autobiography, THE PROLOGUE, The 2nd EP (named to be disclosed at a later date), and THE EPILOGUE…. its just my journey and thoughts of the last couple years and my mindset at the moment and everything I’ve gone through and am going through and how it all affects me.
I’m influenced by Nas, Killah Priest, Gza, Prodigy, Biggie, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, among others. I read alot of Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost poems, The Count of Monte Cristo, Cormac McCarthy. Creatively, I’m just influenced by my environment and shit I go through. My music is my therapy. My way of getting shit out and dealing with it first hand.
My style is different than most cuz I’m not big into punchlines and witty bars. I’ll throw one or two in there if it comes to me but that ain’t really my style. My shit is more visual and poetic, just dope rhymes from the gut. There’s no persona or image. I’m not trying to be hard or sound hard. It’s just me, who I am in the world is who I am on the mic. I don’t talk about gats or shooting people cuz that ain’t me. I spit about shit i think about and shit i go through. And my interpretation of life and society and the world around me. I want heads to feel it how i felt it. And real shit is relatable even if you been through it or not. That’s one thing I love about Eminem too. He puts his personal shit out there. Nas too. Not many cats get personal on tracks and it’s sad. I wanna know about those real moments. I prefer that than a track about how hard you are. Don’t get me wrong, the hard shit is dope too. What I’m saying is there needs to be a balance. I feel that’s what I have achieved on these projects.”
I can personally say I find the whole EP as hard as it is relateable, and I’m looking forward to the Two he has in the chamber. You can follow Evaize and support him and THE PROLOGUE EP on all Streaming Services and at the following social Medial Sites.
https://www.facebook.com/evaizehiphop/
https://www.instagram.com/evaizehiphop/
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