Tag: RuudAwakening

RuudAwakening Shines On The Awakening

By Deuce

You can’t say RuudAwakening isn’t on his game. The wordsmith/game spitter cranked out the 10-cut album Catharsis in November—posting it on Bandcamp on the 13th—before coming back with the follow-up, The Awakening, in early December (posted on Bandcamp the 4th, 50 years to the date of the assassination of the Black Panther Party’s Fred Hampton).

Seven songs deep, The Awakening picks up right where Catharsis lets off. On the latter, the emcee paired with a variety of producers including Penacho, Ill Instrumentals, MadReal, Amphouse Productions, and Skurt Nilsen. Significantly, for a rapper coming from that Dirty Dirty (SoFlo’s Broward County, to be specific), a fair amount of the tracks on The Awakening move at the low to mid 90’s tempo—which is almost anomalous in this part of the country.

This fact is exemplified by “Misery+Company”, which is likely as remarkable for its decidedly off pitch keyboard loop as it is its bass line. The latter pounds furiously, imbuing the track with a degree of dangerousness that counterpoints the feel of most of the other cuts. Actuated by a punchy drum pattern, Ruud goes in on his rhymes until the hook when he belts out a melodic cry of “party on the block”. Still, all the singing in the world can’t stop that bass from rumbling again come the next verse, which appears soon enough to prolong the beauty of this hard-hitting affair.

On “Losing It”, Ruud rides an acoustic guitar loop that sounds suspiciously like a sample. This time he’s flowing in at least the mid 90’s BPM to the ever present clanging of the snare. Lyrically he kicks back and recounts, in delicious detail, some of the choicer moments—and more laudable aspects of—a young lady he had the pleasure of spending time with in the verses.

Still, of all the numbers he likely shines the brightest on “The Alarm”, which utilizes a single bar synthesizer loop as the framework for the rapper to put down some much appreciated flows. The swiftness of his delivery matches that of the track itself, proving that rappers in this region can actually hold their own on the microphone. “The Alarm” is a credible conclusion for a nice blend of material that should keep Ruud on the map for at least a couple more months—until the next project drops.   

The Awakening by RuudAwakening

RuudAwakening Wakes Up Listeners on Forthcoming Album CATHARSIS

By Deuce

You’ve got to respect the ambition evinced on RuudAwakening’s forthcoming Long Player, CATHARSIS (Ruffchild Records). The title, after all, is spawned from the feeling of affective cleansing originally experienced at the conclusion of Greek and Roman tragedies. More importantly, although the album consists of 10 tracks, that’s actually 10 tracks to the neck. What artist (let alone rapper) do you know that’s trying to do that?

Dude sings his own hooks, is responsible for most every verse heard in the collection, and very likely writes all his own material. The songs are curiously devoid of any features, duets, or collaborations other than the wordsmith’s cooperative efforts with producers Penacho, Ill Instrumentals, MadReal, Skurt Nilsen, and Amphouse Productions.

Plus, he’s coming out of South Florida’s Broward County. For those familiar with SoFlo’s Iceberg (Dade County), there’s a discernible similarity in the sheer effort each emcee puts into their recordings. RuudAwakening leaves little to the imagination on his album, mostly because his delivery is rooted in a heartfelt conviction in which it’s readily apparent his rhymes are of paramount importance to him, and those swift enough to catch up to his dexterous flows.

Although his style remains mostly the same throughout the album, his vocal performance and subject matter are rife with variations. He flips a couple of different sounding voices throughout the set, which is appropriate since his is just about the only one heard. He’s also got a few numbers for the babes, one of which, “Paradise” definitely avoids any machismo posturing in favor of valuing feminine wisdom bodies for their full worth. RuudAwakening does the freaky beat justice on this one, especially on the hook in which his off-kilter singing is drenched in just the right amount of vocal effects to give his notes the power they need to come off cool.

The staid stylings of “Magic” are steeped in a heavy dose of pianos, punctuated by double-time high hats and a fat 808 snare. As on several of the other tracks, the rude man punches in quickly to preserve the crispiness of his flows. The promise of the album’s title is perhaps best realized on “Freedom”, which is as refreshing for its uptempo track as it is the socially conscious, introspective rhymes which demonstrate that RuudAwakening takes his claim as an artist seriously—and is not afraid to defy conviction or popular appeal to do so.