Static Identification

Hailing from Seattle - Washington, where the rain is more like dirty-water and Wisconsin, where the winters are the coldest, Reverse broadsides listeners with their debut album titled, “Static Identification”. It’s a refreshingly conscious and eccentric list of grooves that are sure to turn heads. Musically, not only does it fuse classical pianos with acoustic and electric guitars, a unique selection of Middle Eastern and Asian strings and voice samples, but just when you think that hiphop has become too repetitive, Reverse flips the script and morphs the instrumental into the next millennium. Given the idea that most hiphop producers just live in loops, Reverse has crafted it’s beats around the vocals, the point that it makes the listener believe that all the instruments are authentic and not electronic, which is the case with the pianos and guitars. This is particularly helpful in their original story telling, in which the rhythms and grooves convince the listener of the lyrical content. Setting the instrumentation aside for a moment, the vocals are possibly the most creative blend of never been done rapping to ever set foot on the hiphop scene. Most male/female hiphop groups just alternate verses, Reverse is different in that they alternate every few bars, taking story telling to the next level, particularly on songs such as, “Crucifix and Cigarettes”, in which is best simplified as a conversation between a Nun and Killer. Thou several of the songs embodies subject matter that has been discussed on previous hiphop songs. “I, Juana Rock wit the Skeletons”, may be a song about the life of a stripper but it defies every other previous song that has touched on such subject matter in it’s introspective insight. Singing from a first person perspective, Amanda touches on the evident subject matter with honesty, while detailing the setting with intricate description. It’s often a stereotype that light skinned rappers have a difficult time finding themselves in hiphop. These light skinned rappers are far from having an identity crisis in hiphop, rather their metaphors touch on the dark side of lower, middle and upper class white children, teens and adults. In songs such as Truth or Dare, Reza talks about his secrete crush to a girl with light skin, dark hair and braces, while in songs such as The Dutchess of Emerald City, Amanda sings to a radio friendly instrumental from the perspective of the daughter of an upper class family, and her secretes including sexual abuse. If you’re seeking co-existence in an ever changing world, the song “Mizraim Rain” touches on the subject of Islam and Christianity, giving significant evidence to what Muslims and Christians have in common [more then most might know], tapping into history to prove the point. Thou Reverse does clearly come into their religious beliefs on the second disc, it isn’t unwelcome and overbearing but rather comes from somewhere real, from the heart, a place of healing from their past scars, which is pure love. Reverse never stops being human in every sense of the word. And if I said these were the highlights, I would be wrong. This is a concept album revolving around people’s different identities. It is 22 songs long and within that amount of time does a good job of getting the concept drilled into people’s minds with creativity and without getting tired. It isn’t just a collection of songs, it’s a multi-media experience. Even the artwork, bridges the gap, with people’s different identities [a teen boy with headphones, a teen girl with braces, a guy with dreadlocks, a woman with a veil, etc] exemplified throughout the six panel artwork. Not only does this music project adhere to hiphop artists, but given the dark nature of the songs, the instruments and the fact that Amanda not only raps but sings a sort of folk music with a twist of Marylin Monroe. If you’re skeptical, don’t forget that P.e.a.c.e. of the Legendary Freestyle Fellowship is featured on a song, along with several cats from Oldominion, and the list goes on. Given the, digital download/mp3 player era that we’re in, it was engineered to be primarily listened to in headphones. It may be their first full-length project, but don’t get it confused, they’ve been doing instrumental and vocal production for other underground hiphop artists for over a decade.