Mad Flows "Classick"

As you may or may not know, Sacramento, California is a hot spot for hip hop right now, producing a wealth of talented MCs and producers. If you don't believe me sit down and let me tell you something. Let me introduce to you Mad Flows, one of many such talented MCs from Sac Town (you will find many more on the album as well.) Let me see, what makes a MC talented? Quick list: word choice (vocabulary,) cadence, diversity, breath control, song writing, beat selection, etc. Guess what people, Mad Flows has all of these, and displays them all on his debut album "Classick." Still don't believe me, take a look at the review and tell me I'm wrong, here it goes.

The album kicks off with a little "Intro" featuring some disguised voices talking about Mad Flows, who is apparently from the future and from 1995 at the same time, as well as hardcore (which is then met by laughter,) but it does a nice job of setting the stage for informing the listener a bit about Mad Flows before he grabs the mic on the title track.

The transition from "Intro" into "Classick" is done very well (much better than my mine) with a variety of fades and sound effects, before a ring announcer introduces "the heavyweight champion of the World, Mad Flows" (I wonder what Skynet group member Task1ne has to say about that.) All of this is done over a horn and drum beat that continues throughout, while occasionally dropping out. The basis of this track is Mad Flows approach to music, what he tries to create and a bit of how he does it. This is most apparent on the second verse when he drops these bars, "who who knew the sound we was kicking would hit you down deep like ground beef and chicken, So carnivorous, hang them off the Bay Bridge with their arm ligaments my folk arts ridiculous, you getting this, that's when I bust in trust me, they ain't got one-tenth of my substance." The quality continues throughout the song and it becomes clear that Mad Flows is not afraid to use some multisymbolic rhymes.

Some great chill drums set the scene for "Turaw" before the horns make it even smoother as Mad Flows enters the track. A few things stand out on this track, the first being vocabulary and knowing how to actually use it to create clear images while showing off some incredible wordplay. Mad Flows's ability to change cadence midway through the song to match the beat is also on display here. The combination makes for a track that I cannot stop listening to, to catch all the words and changes and every other intricacy, all done over a rather straight forward beat (beat is one of my favs as well.)

If you are looking for a great modern funk style beat with some sick rhymes to listen to while driving your car with the windows down, look no further than "Tonight's the Night" featuring Konkwest, Luna and Chris Reardon. While every stands strong on the track, Mad Flows steals the show with the first verse, "Give me the mic and I might insight a fight 'cause in hindsight I'm quite dope like I'm China White. All you spider mites get vexed and fly a kite. beat alright alright, heaters warm got my lighter pipe, burn. I use urns to condense the ashes of opponents whose only just trying to dent the classics." The other star of the song is the beat, perfect for this track puts you in the right frame of mind and also music you can just chill to as well.

Imagine a record playing some old jazz recording featuring mainly horns, then throw some drums over top of it; you then have the beat for "Fo' Leaf Clover." While, "Tonight's the Night" is a perfect cruising song, "Fo' Leaf Clover" is that song to listen to in your headphones and just nod your head to it. The raw gritty beat is met with quick spitting Lifted and Mad Flows going hard on the mic, showing another side to the diversity of Mad Flows.

The beat for "Foolish Heart" transports you to a 1940s jazz lounge, featuring some velvety piano and Mad Flows continues to set the scene with a very smooth and mellow flow. As you can probably figure, the track features Mad Flows spitting game to a female he recently met, but instead of just an attempt to get said female into bed, it is about building a relationship. There is also an incredible sample that acts as the chorus, with a great whispery but strong female vocalist over the beat with some vinyl sounds added.

"Yasmeen" features some quality piano work and drums with Chris Reardon providing his soulful voice once again on the hook. The first verse has Mad Flows taking a walk with someone and soon decide to "spark a few" and goes into all the ways it opens up your mind and in the middle drops one of the best "Transformers" references "don't be a square like the Allspark." But the first verse is really just a warm up before Mad Flows becomes much more profound on the second verse, making this so much more than a song about weed. "freedom ain't a bargain friend, I gaze at stars while governments embargo them, buys into Wells Fargo then we already owe people, Great Depression, man this is your sequel. Smells fecal, materials, certain criterias clinical demand hexagonical sphericals, my techniques timeless like a pyramid." The verse goes on and continues to mesmerize the listener, certainly one of the standout tracks on the album, if for no other reason than how it changes direction mid-song while still fitting into the theme.

The first 30 seconds of "Out My Mind" could easily fit on a 1960s Grant Green album, before Mad Flows wakes up. But even he wakes up the dream like sound and feel continues throughout the track, even on the chorus with a great call and response, still picture a dream sequence as I listen. The lines that best capture the the flow on this track arrive early on, "Something about dreams and what they mean to me, living the life of an emcee, it's who I need to be, so I'm going to free my chi, it's my daily routine." A great track to listen to on a sunny day while walking down the street, head nodding and keeping it positive.

The atmosphere of "Out My Mind" is shattered rather quickly (about 10 seconds) into "Robots" a song that starts out with a very relaxed and futuristic sound before Mad Flows and Task1ne break through and destroy everything in their path. I searched my mind for how to describe this track and I am reminded of a rather odd trend in my Twitter time line recently, songs that make you want to punch a dog or a baby (both have been used, I kid you not) well this is one of those songs, with both MCs hitting each word hard while speeding up their flow. I wanted to quote some lines, but each time I try to I get caught up in the feeling of it and forget to type them out, so just listen to the track and please...do not punch any creatures, that just isn't very nice.

The adrenaline keeps pumping on "Rise of the Real" with the synths and heavy drums leading into the first verse. It is pretty easy to figure out just what this track is about: how Mad Flows and his crew who work harder and are more talented will rise to the top and get noticed above all these other wack MCs. Need an example of what Mad Flows is talking about? Well look no further than this, "dropping my spiritual master thesis, rocking these lyrical masterpieces."

In case you think Mad Flows is just a talented MC with a solid vocabulary and flow, who likes to smoke weed, "Struck with the Streets" lets you know that he can still kick it on the streets and has no problem displaying his talents over a rugged, heard hitting beat and does so very well with the assistance of Chuuwee. The chorus winds down with the line "It's the same old story from around the way, ye either blaze slugs or ye blaze a pound a day," pretty easy to figure out which one Mad Flows opted for and in reality it is the much safer and smarter option of the two.

After 3 in your face tracks, Mad Flows brings a much more laid back feel to "Dangerous" with its choppy piano beat, but don't think that means either he or Keno relax while on the mic, both bring their A game to the track. They join forces on the chorus while delivering their musical goal, "it came from the heart, raise the bar like pumping iron, make the world the force that systematic funkedafying, do it til the junk is dying, your brain is frying, and all this garbage, ain't what you buying."

Mad Flows kicks off "Edas" on top of the very chill beat, consisting of some synths and maybe strings. The songs stays laid back, but picks up a little on first the chorus, before getting some great scratches on the second verse, before fading out in the next verse. Really the beat is the star of this track, but don't think that Mad Flows, Lifted and Jerry Done don't hold it down on the mic, it is just the intricacies of the beat are out of this world, with its speed changes, layers, and ability to add and subtract said layers without sounding out of place at all. Wow, that made no sense, but hopefully you are able to figure out what I meant by that.

The album ends with the track, "Immaculate," with Mad Flows spitting some of his best lines over a Spanish guitar and drums. The track is another standout on the album, showcasing everything he can do, his ability to rhyme over a wide selection of beats, change up his speed and cadence, his wordplay, etc, all in one track. He also does all of that without a chorus and you do not find yourself missing one (impressive considering his choruses tend to be damn solid.)

So, I was right wasn't I? You want to go listen to the album for yourself now huh? Good, you should do that, you will be better for doing so. But let me stop talking to the computer like it is an actual person and do a "proper" conclusion. First off, it is very evident that Mad Flows set out to make a classic album (he says so multiple times on the album and the title of the album is "Classick") now I will not debate with you whether he achieved such a goal or not (mainly because I think an album has to stand the test of time to be given such a title and future me hasn't told present me yet, but that is a whole other rambling discussion.) What I can say is that should be the goal of every artist (no matter the genre or medium) for every project, make it a classic that lives on longer than you do, isn't that the point of art? While I do not know if this album is a classic, it sure is one damn good album that keeps your attention from start to finish and leaves you wanting more. Mad Flows shows us what makes a great MC on "Classick" and what could become a classic album, the pieces are there, now it is up to time. So while you are contemplating all of this, check out the link below, you will not be disappointed.

You can stream and download the album here.