Album Review D. Allie – Live @ The Get Up (2009)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Potholes
Hailing from the area surrounding the hip-hop rich city, Detroit, comes D. Allie. He started out in hip-hop in high school, and has not looked back since. Part of the United States of Mind collective, D. Allie began honing his skills. And on Live @ The Get Up, it shows. As the title indicates Live @ The Get Up, is a live cd, a mix of songs from D. Allie’s debut cd, The Collective, and some new joints as well.
Throughout the album, D. Allie’s stage presence remains impressive, full of high energy, crowd involvement, and smart rhymes; all musts for a live performance, and a live performance cd. As if the live instrumentation weren’t enough to tell you, D. Allie makes it known verbally that he enjoys rooting his music in jazz, lending an organic, down to earth vibe to the entire set. Smooth guitars, gliding keyboards, complex drum patterns and an overall feel that the entire band was really enjoying the music, make the instrumentation alone a pleasant, rewarding listen.
Lyrically, D. Allie falls right into suit with the band backing him. He raps mainly about his love with the music. Various songs delve into how he got into music in the first place, others talk about his relationship with the music, and then finally, on “Change The Name” (what was going to be the final track before he is called out for an encore), D. Allie ruminates over where hip-hop can go, which is a nice setting for the whole album, because in a way, it depicts a personal journey through music.
Ultimately, that is what D. Allie wants the listener to take away, is that music really is about enjoying music and having fun. The album would have been a bit more satisfying had D. Allie branched out into less-safe territory lyrically, and pushed his boundaries (he is definitely talented enough to do so). All in all, Live is good enough to make people sure to look out for more coming from D. Allie and the United States of Mind crew in the future.
As always thanks for the love potholes. Cd is available at http://www.cdbaby.com/dallie2 and should be on iTunes shortly.
Yea, live CDs can be dope when done well. This one’s pretty cool, definitely recommended. Thanks for the comment, peace.
Dope. There’s not enough live albums in hip hop, mostly because there’s so few competent live performers in the first place. I will definitely check this out.