From the Darkness Comes the Light

For the last week and a half, I've been listening to an album that I only recently found out about...  a wonderful odyssey into the salvation of Hip-Hop.

Walk With Me - The Black Dot

I've been aware of The Black Dot as a teacher in the conscious community and as author of the book Hip-Hop Decoded. It was while watching one of his videos, I noticed that he was performing a song that I found very intriguing. I was moved to look for the album on iTunes. Once I found it and listened, I was thoroughly pleased because this is as satisfying of a listen as I've heard in many years.

Walk With Me begins with a surprise intro by the God MC, Rakim. This clip from an interview of Rakim has him explaining the cause of the current state of Hip-Hop. This serves as the perfect introduction for The Black Dot. Dot's rhymes, flow, content and musical soundscapes clearly aim to not only pump life back into Hip-Hop, but to also to return it to its rightful position as the universal community classroom. Black Dot succeeds. Starting with 40's the New 40, Dot rattles off a succession of songs designed to cause the listener to think and evaluate life's issues and redefine the place of Black people in Life and Hip-Hop in world  culture. Black Dot uses this album as a platform to teach about hidden history, culture and perseverance. The music is engaging and rooted in original Hip-Hop style, with emphases on samples of  soul, jazz and R&B music. That's not to say, its a relic, because the only song sounding "old" is a deliberate throw back (I'm So 88), which successfully captures the style of late 80s New York.

This album had me listening on repeat all day... for several days. If you're interested in listening to independent Hip-Hop that explores and exposes you to elevated perspectives of life and reality and tales of surviving today's hellish environment, then I highly recommend Walk With Me to you. In the spirit of keeping this short I haven't mentioned many great songs, like Order & Chaos, I Used to Love H.E.R. Too, I Just Can't  Understand, and We Ain't Movin' (Remix).

Standouts:

H.E.Y.R.O.O. - This is a catchy song reminding us about our divinity. 

Chicken Soup -  This is the song that first caught my ear, and it remains one of my favorites. This is a beautiful examination of salvaging the Black family, via hitting the reset button on how we see each other and how we see our women and start our relationships.

Walk With Me - The title track is a soul-induced, autobiographical walk through Black Dot's life and is used as an effective lesson on strength and perseverance, not to mention the importance of  spirituality and faith in the unseen.

Now Eye Know - The Jewel of the Album! This song begins slowly, then fires off into one of the best lyrical performances in the 21st century. Sweet lyrics and elevated, wide awake content... just perfect.

Take a look and listen to Now Eye Know...

If you're interested in seeing Black Dot teaching in one of his lectures, check this out...

  Until next time, Remember All of Life is Sound... Keep Listening.