Home
Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star
Loading Inventory...
Barnes and Noble
Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star
Current price: $15.99
Barnes and Noble
Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star
Current price: $15.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: CD
*Product Information may vary - to confirm product availability, pricing, and additional information please contact Barnes and Noble
In the age of compact discs, tombstone-sized vinyl editions for one album, and endless playlists, 78 minutes of music split in half seems peculiar, but there are significant distinctions between the two
full-lengths that landed in 2017. After
was created primarily during multiple sessions in Marina del Rey with co-producer
,
reconnected in Seattle with longtime associate
for the purpose of cutting bonus tracks. Instead, during two weeks, a full-blown sequel was laid down with help from a smaller group of musicians not including
percussionist
. Among the more atypical tracks is the triumphant "Shine a Light," which with its incorporation of a certain malt-shop banger sounds like nothing else in the
discography.
, not as the character Quazarz, lets loose inscrutable and personal lines alike, one moment musing "How that llama repeat sound hella sweet," and later, flashing a grin, expressing love to his father. Indeed, there's a little more life and alertness to this set than there is in the dread-laced first volume. Instead of coming from a distanced observer or some being in a zombie-like state, this is more energized and direct, sometimes scathing, with jibes like "I see sellouts, clowns, coons, staring empty-minded at the moon" delivered with seething disdain.
's approach, whether the rapper is or isn't portraying a visitor, still remains mostly low-key patter loaded with code, slang, and jargon that necessitates a few listens for full decryption. Overall, the beats here are funkier and a little more jagged than they are on the preceding volume, highlighted by the whomping bassline on "Moon Whip Quaez,"
's bob-and-prickle low end on "Since C.A.Y.A.," and what resembles a contorted hybrid of
's "Delirious" and
's "At Peace with Concrete" on "That's How City Life Goes." ~ Andy Kellman