SYRE DEDEYE – EYE OF THE STORM #CyphLyfeReview

There has been a storm of epic proportions churning in the North East for years now. Dropping nothing but the grimiest Indie Hip Hop over the state of Massachussettes and the surrounding Cape Area for the past since around 2018.  If you have been a fan of the current wave of Underground/ Indie Hip Hop flooding the internet and Real DJ’s weekly mixes, you are probably a fan of several Massachussettes Emcees and Groups and might not know it yet.  One name we want to make sure you are familiar with is SYRE DEDEYE. The Emcee/Producer repping Murder Mass to the fullest, has just dropped his latest LP, EYE OF THE STORM, to let you know the roll he plays within this Northern Hip Hop Hurricane.

The album opens with stern spoken word performed by…. . You can feel the struggle and desperation in the poets voice and words, and if you have been in her shoes before, where there is food in the fridge, but only enough to last another day, you can relate with her anguish.  Its with this sense of fighting to catch up from far behind that SYRE DEDEYE attacks EYE OF THE STORM.  On the album opener OXYGEN, he incorporates a bouncy cadence to deliver a message that isnt all Fun and Party. He inserts sections of the spoken word Intro into the song to drive the message home, this is an album about surviving the struggle that attempts to suffocate us all. STRIPES is another Bouncy Bop with a dark side.  SYRE slides over the Trapish production to deliver a song that devulges all the bullshit he has been putting up with on his life journey of earning his “Stripes”, including  “Being stabbed, Being Shot At/ Getting jumped in front of his kids over a contract/”.  The life he describes hasnt been anything pretty or easy. You can sympathize with him  on the hook when he refers with disgust at people who boast that their life is going great.

Now let me make the disclaimer, TRAP/ DRILL/ CRUNK and all of their derivitives are in no way my preferred sub-genre of Hip Hop.  I’m used to the Hip Hop I get from Massachussettes being unapologetically hard  East Coast boom bap. So the deeper I get into the album, the more I am surprised to find that SYRE has ventured into more modern sounding productions for this project, and he is able to drop flows that fit the beats perfectly.  The Industrial Heavy Metal Trap record SAY NO MORE is a great example. Not only is the instrumental appealing to a wide array of musical genre’s, but the lyrical patterns are just as hype as the slapping beat.  Now the Boombap Purest HIP HOP LIFER’S Facebook Group where I met SYRE DEDEYE may have their quarrels with SYRE’s beat selection, but I for one think he showed balls trying a new lane for his writing, and I think it paid off.  It doesnt come off as forced, and I definitely see how these tracks can attract a younger audience that allergic to anything Old School.

He hasnt given up on that Hard Street Hop completely tho.  Never that.  He invites Murder Mass legends KRUMB SNATCHA and BLOCK MCCLOUD of Army of the Pharoahs Infamy to join him in beating the STU BANGAS beat to death for that EIGHT BALL MONEY. These 3 make getting that illegal money look legit as fuck.  The problem most Hip Hop heads have with the  Trap/ Drill Movement is the willingness to sacrifice good lyrics for catchy flows.  This is not the case with SYRE DEDEYE tho.  This is a trained lyricist who came up in one of the toughest scenes to get respected in, so you know he aint pulling any punches when it comes to the pen work. Somehow, he manages to deliver top level writing along with entertaining flows throughout the project, making a good time out of an album full of deep, melancholy subject matter.  The pity party stops at venue door on PASS IT AROUND. An instant live crowd favorite where SYRE not only tap dances all over the Turn’t Up Beat with Socker Cleats on, but also delivers a hook that will stay in your head for days if you play it over and over a couple of times.  This “Turn’t” Vibe bleeds over to ASK SOMEBODY, another moshpit inducing banger that could make any Hip Hop night feel like CBGBs in the Punk Rock infested 70s. If you dont know, “You Better Ask Somebody”.

This gives way to the only song SYRE produced on EYE OF THE STORM.  The back and forth barfest, F A T A L I T Y feat NOTHING OVER ART is a punchline heavy ode to both emcees’ fatal attraction with the Art of Rhyming and how it could result in your fatality if you are on the receiving end of their disses. The back and forth chemistry between SYRE & N.O.A, the level of penwork & the production on this joint make it one of my favorites on the record so far.  Every hurricane has a center of pressure where the storm seems to take a break before continuing on its path of distruction.  On the album title track, SYRE takes a moment to let you into the center of the whirlwind of his life, and how he uses these luls in the foul weather to do some soul searching and make some executive decisions on what dead weight needs to be cut off in order for him to grow.  Unfortunately, as you hear in his 1st verse, it is the good in him that might be getting put on the chopping block.

“Should I look into the mirror and try to hide myself / Should I say I’m about ready to die myself/ Is that a Cry for Help/ Should I try to help/ Myself out when all I do is Deny the Help/ Look inside Myself, and Try to find the Wealth/ I once had before it fell back behind that shelf/ Dug myself out a ditch you aint climbing out/ You cant handle that? Fine, Im Out/ You just finding out, That I kind of Doubt/ The good in me will beat the villain in this final bout/ I imbrace the loser in me, Thats my guy no doubt/ Thats my Ride or Die Dawg and we riding out!!/ “  Now thats TUFF with 2 F’s

This is where the album gets interesting.  With the fading in of 900 MILES, which sounds like the Nine Inch Nails meets Robert Plant meets Def Jux mash up that I never knew I needed.  This is the SYRE I am used to, and he matches the off kilter feel of the F1RST SOURCE produced instrumental perfectly. DEDEYE shares with us that F1RST SOURCE is actually his mentor on the Engineering side. You can feel the natural chemistry between the two on this track that sounds like it would have fit great on EL P’s Early 2000 Label Roster, and still sounds Fresh and Brand New in 2024.  This gives way to YOU, another one of my favorite cuts on the project.  A smooth boom bap slapper produced by JUS-LISTEN gives SYRE an immaculate background to talk about a toxic relationship that he just cant get over.  Seems to be the perfect segway into GHOST, a hauntingly heart renching song about the one that got away.

This leads us to the throat clenching album closer, UNAVAILABLE, a minimal percussion, accoustic guitar driven hard look in the mirror for SYRE.  The heavy subject matter of the never ending battle with depression and anxiety is made a bit more ingestible by SYRE’s genius cadence work between the 4 counts, but the underlying message is still there. It seems the brolic 1st half of the album is one of SYRE DEDEYES multiple layers of armor, lugged around to keep him from suffering anymore than he already has.  On UNAVAILABLE though, SYRE lowers the drawbridge of his fortress to give you a brief look inside the heart of his personal Storm. What we find is, for all of his tough talk and violent brovado, he is just a wounded human like the most of us, trying to find some shelter from the foul weather life seems to throw at us at regular intervals. SYRE is far from perfect. Other than his kids, He isn’t trying to be anybodies role model or hero.  He is just trying to weather the storm like the rest of us.

Follow SYRE DEDEYE on Instagram to stay up to date with all future releases – @syrededeye 

Spotify – SYRE DEDEYE

Founder of Vice City Cypher, WVCC Radio, PROFRESH Publicty. With over 20 Years in South Florida’s Hip Hop Scene 8ch2Owens has carved his name into the Miami Hip Hop history books, and now uses his talents to promote the best in South Florida Indie Hip Hop and Underground Hip Hop from around the globe.