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After our interview with Debaser, Sapient let us know that he wasn’t too thrilled with our review of their album. Rather than just telling him tough luck and moving on, we decided, why not make it interesting?
We agreed to let you, our readers, get a sneak peak at the new Debaser album, in it’s entirety, and give it your own grade. We rated this album a 13.00 out of a possible 20.00, a decent grade, but Sape thinks they deserve better.
Now it’s your turn. Take a listen, and let us know how you rank Peerless (out of a possible 20.00 total). Our score won’t change, but we still want to know how you feel. Oh yeah, and there might even be some prizes for those who participate.
May 20th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Debaser & Sapient Always come through..The new album left me speechless. I was up till 3 in the morning just listening to the same song like 4 or 5 times.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by djjazzpants, aboveGround Magazine. aboveGround Magazine said: Think you've got what it takes to be an album reviewer? Check out our PEER REVIEW opportunity of Debaser's new album! http://bit.ly/aGCjlg [...]
May 20th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Peerless, for me, was a highly anticipated album due to how every previous album from Sapient, Debaser, and Sandpeople being such a hit. This album has amazing beats, clever and witty lyrics, and it talks about some real social issues happening in the planet today. This is as REAL as hip hop gets. No fluff. Excellent featured appearances on the album. Completely flawless. This is absolutely a 10/10 album and a must listen.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Sape be killn on the beats! Dope lyrics, hot beats…what more could you ask for? Above ground rated this album a 13.00 out of a possible 20.00, I give it a 16.00…
May 20th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
i give it 14.00 i agree with your review
May 20th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Debaser kills it once again. The (One and only) Track im not to fond of is “spider in the sheets” Minus that though, The rest is sick.
19/20
May 20th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
you guys are trippin ,sapient is the dopest shit in hiphop right now…your sleepin hard!!!
May 20th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
i give it a 20…aboveGrounds wack!!!!
May 20th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
10/10
May 20th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
[...] What are you waiting for? Go post your review! [...]
May 20th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
fuck that sape is the illest in the music industry you guys are stupid as fuck sapient strait kills any MC!!
May 20th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Easily one of the best hip hop albums of the year alongside Nocando’s-Jimmy The Lock.
I could see how someone wouldn’t appreciate the songs “My Brain” or “Spider in the Sheets” (actually my least favorite song of the album, though I’d still rate it as a 15/20)if they do not understand the groups concept and recurring themes they use. My Brain, for example, could easily be considered misogynistic and arrogant, but if you realize the satire it’s making in relation to the commonality in hip-hop for MC’s to refer to themselves as God’s gift to women (or basically any braggadocio of this sort) then the song can easily be interpreted as simply exaggerating this trend in a way that sheds light on how ridiculous and arrogant it actually is. I assume this is inherently obvious to most listening, but if not the tracks may be very off putting. I actually played my Brain for some friends from an upper division feminist philosophy class and most enjoyed it for what it was, satire.
If anyone believes any other part of the album to be disappointing, please refer to the first verse of “results”. If you do not understand how much skill and personality it takes to maintain a 4 syllable rhyme (with inner schemes I might add) for 16 bars while actually remaining on a certain topic (battle/punchline 16′s don’t even count a little) then perhaps you don’t appreciate the subtleties of being a well rounded MC. Add Sapient’s obviously in depth understanding of music as well as Ethics natural and incredibly unique style on the mic, and I honestly don’t see how any hip-hop head would not love this album.
I’ll give it a 20/20 because I’m a random fan that no one will pay attention to anyway, but realistically this album deserves at least 4 Mics from the Source when it was still relevant.
PS: Fucking Cage and Eyedea
May 20th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Oh and simply saying the reviewer is an idiot is detrimental to anyone that wants to support the music. Obviously the reviewer has an in depth knowledge of hip hop music as is demonstrated by their review. The “different people like different things” realization might be a good start for some of you, although purely because the author wrote “decent lyrics” and compared their delivery to Slug at a point does lead me to believe they had a lot of biases in listening to this album. The undergrounds constant comparison of every white guy to Slug is almost as bad to me as people thinking Eminem’s the only white rapper worth listening to.
May 20th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Wow, that review is pretty retarded… Obviously the reviewer isn’t really into underground/good hip hop music based on some ignorant comments that were made in the review (e.g. referring to the song Tree Of Life as ‘Hyphy’… Seriously, wtf?), so I guess it’s understandable that he’d fail to appreciate Debaser properly.
This album’s been on daily rotation for me, for the last 2-3 weeks, and it wasn’t till I’d been listening to it every day for about a week that I TRULY began to appreciate it… Almost all the tracks are layered so much that they really do require multiple listens to appreciate, both lyrically and production wise.
For example, in Sape’s second verse on Enough, he references how “growing up in school I was told to shut up a lot, apparently my teachers didn’t love their jobs”. Then as the verse leads into the chorus, he says “Shut up”, which I didn’t connect with the first line in the verse till I’d heard the song several times… The chorus even says “We’ve had enough of the shit that you talk, you need to keep it just in your thoughts” which is like what his teachers were saying to him as a kid, only in different words. This is getting longwinded, but that’s an example of how there is more to the lyrics than what’s on the immediate surface. And the death star line wasn’t “played”, it was perfect for the verse, “It’s DBSR, on some Knights of Templar shit, blowing up like the death star did”, and Sape’s delivery/flow/everything was ridiculously on point. I love when random people who have shitty taste in music all of a sudden decide to start critiquing individual lines like they’re some authority on what is and isn’t dope. Actually, no, I don’t love that at all.
Agreed with the person who mentioned the ignorant comparisons to Slug (not that a comparison to Slug is necessarily a bad thing), it shows how limited their knowledge of hip hop is to compare any artists with minor similarities because they’re probably the only rappers they know of who aren’t “gangsta” or whatever the current buzz word is for commercial rap music.
I found the 3rd quarter of the album wasn’t as flawless as it could have been, and I felt that having two instrumentals on the album was unnecessary (though I’ve always enjoyed the instrumentals on all of Sape’s solo albums), but overall, it’s a great album. If I was reviewing it for this site, I’d give it 17/20. Not that I have a clue what I’m talking about haha
May 21st, 2010 at 7:30 am
forreal terrible review. he couldn’t understand these lyrics “Burning fields until they’re under that tree of life, but we shake that shit until the tree house falls” This dude doesn’t need to be review albums if he doesn’t understand that. And hyphy??? lol idiot just plain stupid
“Homie does not sound very convincing when he says “bitches”. Not very intimidating.” smh so many times. Not very intimidating lol. That ain’t their style idiot. This isn’t diabolic.
Wtf is he talking about forced multi syllable rhymes??? They both sound smooth as hell like always. This dude needs to get his knowledge up. It seems like his favorite song is My Brain which makes me think for sure this dude is some asher roth or eminem fan as that’s my least favorite. It’s still good as hell but not what i dig personally.
The reviewer acts like “outdated like a tapedeck” is simple and obvious….well yeah it maybe when you don’t hear what the fuck it goes together with but even without i’ve never heard someone spit that unlike i’ve heard lil wayne talk about murk shit or eminem raping a bitch, but i bet this dude loves that recycled shit. arsonel reviewed this shit didn’t he??
“The vocal effects are well-used and somehow reminds me of something Lenny Kravitz would go for.” No comment. SMH
sapes beats are some of the most unique shit ever too. to quote him it’s “more than just looping a beat like what” his beats are fucking music. i hope this site fucking burns
I personally give this album a 18/20 just because it didn’t top Crown Control and that Eyedea spit a shitty verse which pissed me off.
Sandpeople all day!
Sape beats all day!
i guarantee the reviewer doesn’t know shit about underground hip hop.
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:19 am
20 out of 20…nuff said…
May 22nd, 2010 at 4:43 am
Debaser are a group that are pretty fuckin’ straight to the point. They don’t really beat around the bush, since, well – the bottom line is that they are probably better than you. This is the second CD dropped by the dope duo known as Debaser, and their sophomore album really takes off directly from where “Crown Control” left off.
From the beginning we get Sape flaunting one of his more epic concoctions of dope swag with a beat that starts out simple with a nice subtle bass line and beat with an epic string strung through an infectious pluck that simply pulses for the first minute or so until it finally builds into a fluid an epic banger as per usual with a typical crunchy Sapient synth that simply crushes the beat. The verse that Sapient opens that album is a simple statement that takes off from where “Crown Control” left off…
“It’s like…I do this e’ry day, you can barely hang/
I’m as raw as Aramaic, this is my inherent trait/
It’s fair to say, we all progress at varying rates/
But I’m thinking about when you die, how good the air will taste…/”
Than we roll into a very convincing hook that comes in with Epic’s enthralling presence, continuing the ridiculous swag…
“The vultures that ate here, can only relate fear/ When the names spoke, and we dope and in ain’t fair/ We’ve been cursed, but it fits us/
To grab hip hop and than and than perk the bitch up/
We gonn’ merk them sick fucks that think what/
we do’s a quick way to get lunch/
Y’all don’t take steps, you kick dust/
We the apex, and what makes sense, we get love/”
And than the beat aaactually gets sicker. An epic electric guitar wails in and crunches down with the bass with careless funk. And Sapient retorts with more punches that bring us to the outro.
Track 2, “Enough” opens with a simple but catch scratch of a sample that is quickly interrupted with an INSANE guitar riff that just bleeds funk. The horns come in and we get Epic flaunting more flawless kicks and punches to any and everyone who thinks they can flaunt hip hop.
“Say they deep in the game, why don’t we show some respect?/
They can shut their damn mouths, and just know that we next/
And it’s a/
new era, this group tears the roof off the bitch/
these bitches should know better/
we a/
head a the curve, let it burn when we rap/
Of an 8th of this herb and a 5th of this jack/
With a/
Sapient slap, across the faces/
Of/
Every producer that lacks what he lacks what he laces/
Cause/
Every producer lacks what he’s laces/
That’s why every one of our tracks our so dangerous/”
With such a direct, crisp delivery, Ethic simply commands your attention when he’s on the mic. Let me remind you the guy is about 8 feet tall. It’s almost not even right to call it cockiness cause the confidence seems like such truth.. And than Sapient comes in with one of HIS most promising verses on the album. I can’t even quote it since the whole verse needs a few listens to take in. Ethic retorts nicely, and Sapient finishes with FORCE.
Both of these MC’s seem to me at their best on tracks such as this where they get a chance to flow back and fourth a bit, but still command their own mics and hold their own stage presence. Debaser is probably hard for any fan of anything close to “Mainstream”, “Pop”, “Club” or any such genre to try and stomach. When you get two MC’s with such cocky swag, and hard truth, line after line, with such slight against anything industry, you can imagine it would be like feeding trying to feed a 5 year old raw spinach and liver. Mmm… Debaser truly lives up to their name, and “Enough” epitomizes all of this.
Oh, than we get the title track, “Peerless”. Let me just say that no hip hop producer has successfully incorporated a glockenspiel into a beat as well as Sapient manages to do here in this track. Yes, that instrument in the intro… And than the resonating piano that bleeds over the deep synthy chorus. It all flows together with a definite precision that most Sandpeople have probably come to expect. Sapient comes through with what is possibly his best verse on the CD, only second to what he comes with in “Enough”. It’s all that Sapient’s style has evolved into and wrapped into a perfect verse. Again, I can’t even pick a quote since I’d have to type the whole thing out. And than Ethic:
“Hide your face, your showing weaknesses/
What tryin to place yourself with the elite will get/
Y’all some fetuses, we don’t compete for shit/
When we speak: You listen, looks like we’re feeding fish/”
He simply murders the track with one of HIS strongest verses on the CD. It’s intense, but this CD starts with so much heat it was (for me) quite an experience. Really, Debaser comes through in their purest, rawest, truest form in tracks 1 through 3. No filler.
Than we get “Tree of life”, which is by no means a let down, but after when we get it really feels like the fire calmed a bit. Sapient gets a little too poppy for his own good on a goofy hook which he samples from god knows where… but he really should stay away from the chimpmunk sampling… The verses are quality, consistent with most of the CD, but unfortunately the production is a let down for me.
Track 5, “Spider In The Sheets” was the first track leaked off of the CD, and when I first heard it I honestly hoped it wouldn’t make the final cut of the CD. Low an behold the track is here, and.. well I just laughed when I listened to it again on the CD. I can’t help but crack a grin listening to it. It’s just a silly boy track that makes a high school/college ages emo kid feel good about his slutty endeavors. They happen, and I suppose this track is a decent redemption track for any guy whose had to deal with it, but I can’t really get much replay value out of a track like this…
Cage opens up the the track “Pedestals” with the first guest appearnce on the album, with an OK verse for Cage. Well, for Cage in the last 3 years, who I pretty much consider a completely different MC from previous days… That’s a whole nother story, but for what it’s worth I wasn’t let down here by his presence on one of the more crushing beats of the album.
Sapient blesses us with “Nola”, one of the classic instrumentals which have come to pose as interludes for many of his current works. Interludes, but NOT filler as he flaunts some of his crispest production here on these instrumentals. I can never figure out why there aren’t verses on them… And, as usual this instrumental just sets the tone. I think quite perfectly after the slight detour of the last 3 tracks which we more on the experimental side.
And we’re back to Debaser. Straight up, raw Debaser. “Quitters” is a heavy track that is nothing short of what any Debaser would hope for. I for one kiiiind of get a little tired of the heavy syth-laced beats that Sape like to smother us with. But, for what it’s worth they’re pretty much money in the bank…
Track 9 is a slight detour again with “My Brain”, which is a track I’ve honestly listened to about twice. I kinda just skip it now… a gimmick track mostly, and while it switches the tone of the CD drastically, and COULD be a refreshing switch, I really don’t feel it. It’s a simple message, kind of parallel with “Spider in the Sheets”; the track that makes the guy feel better about the sluts. Eh. I understand people will like this track, but for me it appeals to a younger demographic.
Track 10 saves the flow VERY WELL however as The Grouch comes in with a clutch appearance on another DOPE Sape banger. This beat simply BUMPS. Hard. No dosing on this beat. Everything about it simply seems on point, and surprisingly for such a subtle and simple MC, The Grouch seems to be a perfect fit for the track. Well composed verses and strong hook make up one of the best tracks on the album.
Track 11 is everything Nola is and more… god I don’t even know what to say about a beat this infectious…
Track 12 is a nice switch up from the heavy synthy crunch of most of the previous as we get a more up lifting beat with a piano riff and a wide drum beat that spreads wide between crashing snare hits. The chorus really up lifts and breaths fresh air into the album. The hook almost reminds me of something that I would expect on on a Living Proof/Tope tack (for those who are really up to date on the NW Hip Hop scene…).
And finally we get the feature that I had been waiting for for a loooong time. I couldn’t even believe when I heard it, but low and behold, here we get Eyedea on a Debaser track. One of the most accomplished battle MC’s in hip hop teaming up with one (probably THE) cockiest duo’s in hip hop. It’s a recipe for dopeness that couldn’t fail. And it doesn’t. The beat bangs, the flute elevates the soul, the bassline infects, and of course, Eyedea comes in and steals the day. Done. I didn’t need to listen to the final track…
But it’s there. And we get what has become a custom for any Sapient release to this point, the final rock song to end the CD. I appreciate these tracks for the diversity they bring and it’s a cool outro to go out on. This is one of Sapient’s more complete rock songs too, in my opinion and really a good choice for a Debaser album. Infectious, as is the nature of the CD. As is the nature of anything Sapient seems to bless with his production…
Beats: 18/20
Lyrics: 17/20
Overall CD grade: A-
May 28th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Can’t stop playing it. Perfect record.
May 31st, 2010 at 3:43 am
Debaser never disappoints! This album has been stuck in my deck since its release. Truly amazing!
I respect Sapient more then any other artist in the game right now. And Ethics verse is always flawless.
They’re both so diverse, & both simultaneously make me laugh and make me think, an incrediably hard task to pull of.
I have RIDICULOUSLY HIGH STANDARDS for hip hop, since I love it so much, and Debaser is my favorite group for so many reasons.
Now other group has demanded my attention and respect as consistantly as Sandpeple and all its amazing afiliates.
Endless respect to Debaser. This album is amazing!
May 31st, 2010 at 3:44 am
*no
September 16th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
eyy dis wassup mane true talk
September 17th, 2010 at 5:14 am
I thought it was an excellent album. I’d give it a 18/20, I’d give Sapient’s, “Barrels for Feathers” a 20/20 though :)
December 24th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
sape thinks they deserve better??? SO DO I!!!! 19.5 BARE MINIMUM!!!!!!!! they are eons better than 13.0, f**k that!!
and badeau, yes this is their second……….CD, but this is technicaly their 3rd album……..did we forget about Back To Work, or do free albums no count?