Charles Desrochers / Asst. Lifestyle Editor
Popular Canadian Hip-Hop artist, k-os, released Yes!, his fourth studio album last week and it’s a strange departure from his previous two.
The best way to describe this MC is that he’s strange. His previous recent albums, Joyful Rebellion and Atlantis, were both genre-bending journeys through his musical tastes. Yes! marks his return to Hip-Hop and he brought some tricks back with him.
The album starts with a choir sample that sounds like it was taken from a john woo movie on the track “Zamboni”. A chunky synth line during the chorus is the only thing reminiscent of a bass line. At first listen, it might not seem like anything special but after the second or third there’s a strange anticipation for certain parts.
The entire album is simultaneously familiar and distant. The theme is classic but the production is otherworldly. Despite all these contradictions the entire album fits perfectly.
House trance is mixed with dub on “Eye Know There’s Something Going On”. A loop from Phantom Planet’s “California” is used on “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman” that brings a level mainstream to the album.
Songs like his first single “4 3 2 1” are more traditional and remind us that he’s isn’t making this progressive hip hop for any reason other than it’s the kind of music he wants to listen to.
Like in his previous records, k-os’ voice jumps the border between reggae, rapping, singing. Every song provides so much variety it’s hard not to like something from every song. That is one of my complaints about Yes!, his flow is so natural that when he takes the next verse off to sing it almost seems like a shame. He can sing well though, it isn’t like Kanye using a vocoder.
His voice sounds sweet and has plenty of heart behind it but the man is so good gliding through lyrics it seems there aren’t enough minutes on the track. This isn’t an album that will change lives or even change minds. This is hip-hop though, in the truest sense of the term.
I have a feeling this is as popular as he’s going to be. It’s not everyday that a Canadian hip-hop artist breaks into mainstream, but maybe he knows this. k-os has been indie since the mid 90’s and his latest announcement that he will be performing in “name your own price” tour, called The Yes! Karma Tour, shows that he doesn’t make music to be famous.
On Yes!’s special edition k-os had a contest that allowed his fans to remix his songs for a chance to be featured on the extra disc. The remixes are forgettable and not better than the original but it’s the gesture that counts. An artist that has been around as long as he has opening up and letting fans be apart of his work is commendable.
He could have phoned it in. He could have rested on his laurels. He could have settled, but he didn’t. Instead of cashing in on his god-given talent by going mainstream with music that can be described as normal he keeps trying to do it on his own terms. If you give Yes! a listen and don’t like it, please, listen to his other albums. k-os is an artist that doesn’t repeat himself.
