Artist: Deep ThinkersTitle: Necks MoveRating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Anthony “Lil Koop” Carr
When it comes to Kansas City, Missouri, what rap artist can you name? Don’t drift down south to St. Louis keep your mind in Kansas City. Did Tech N9ne come to mind? Sole? Maybe no artist came to mind at all right? For a better way to put it, what does Kansas City have to offer to the rap game? To give somewhat of an answer that question we take a look at Kansas City’s underground vets Brother of Moses and Leonard D, whom together, make Deep Thinkers. Their first release Necks Move (Coup De Grace) is decent for their first national release. Listeners get 15-tracks of what Deep Thinkers has so say and offer.
“Rock the Beat” opens with theatrical style as Lenny D blends Aboriginal horns and Chinese style strings to give listeners a relaxed and ready to listen feeling. With conscience style and politically driven lyrics Deep Thinkers stay true to their name. Over the course of the album listeners are met with songs that just contain true Hip-hop style break beats, mixing, and scratching which many would consider the “fillers” of the album. Not swaying away from the Hip-hop norm of “representing where you are from”,
on “War of Words”, over light piano riffs, Rahzel style beat boxing, and rapid drum rolls we are given a true insight on the city of Kansas City and what it has to offer to underground/indie hip-hop.
The downfall of the album is that many of the songs offered by Deep Thinkers are short and lack depth. That’s where the mixing, and scratching tend to tie the loose ends or fill in for the short verses of songs. Listeners who are just opening their ears to Deep Thinkers will immediately compare them to dead prez due to the politically driven lyrics. Noteworthy is the production given from Lenny D, which if used right, can keep their name afloat in the Hip-hop marketplace and in listener’s thoughts.
