Everlast - Eat at Whitey's

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Free Music Notes for Eat at Whitey's

Free Music Review: What A Spread!
Hit: 5 Stars

Everlast would appear, on the surface at least, to have jumped on the "let's try some odd combinations and see if they work" bandwagon which seems to be taking a lot of the music world by storm (Wyclef, I am looking in your direction). Not that this is a bad thing, but there's only so much that can be got out of it.

On closer listening, the album reveals the first of its many secrets. The apparently random nature of the guests is actually organised so that Everlast can demonstrate his own skills in performing many different styles.

All the tracks on this album are moving in some way or another - maybe not on first listening, but after you've got past some of the symbolism you'll beging to feel very emotional at most of them.

"Black Jesus" - Everlast singing what sounds like a very old blues song with modern lyrics ("Bloods keep bloodin'/Crips keep crippin'") while playing an acoustic guitar - may have been the lead off single but isn't the strongest track on the album, despite the power invested in the lyrics by Everlast's deep growl.

The better tracks here seem to be the quieter, reflective tracks. "I Can't Move", "Love For Real", "Babylon Feeling" and "Black Coffee" all have the effect of making the listener stop and take stock of the situation. "Graves To Dig" is another track in this vein but the abstract nature of the lyrics creates a feeling more of fright rather than anything else.

Another one of the best tracks is "Children's Story". According to the liner notes, Rahzel provides "human beatbox, human bassline, sound effects and all other cool stuff" on this track. The effect of having all the sound effects ("Uncle Whitey, tell us a story" and so on) being provided by Rahzel gives the track a comical edge which belies the harsh anti-crime message of Everlast's lyrics. The bassline is done so well it takes a long time to pick up that it isn't computer generated.

The album also features cameos from rappers such as B-Real. While this has the feature of showing that Everlast is true to his roots, it also shows just how much above the hardcore of hip-hop he has risen since the end of House Of Pain.

The only downside to this album is the simplicity of Everlast's guitar playing. But, when you're as talented as he is with the words and can get people like Carlos Santana to provide the music, you really don't need to be perfect everywhere.

In short, another superb album to expand the horizons of the hip-hop listener and introduce more people to the delights of the top end of hip-hop.

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