DTMD – Makin’ Dollas

9/24/11 | By | 6 Comments

makin dollas art 300x300 DTMD Makin DollasDTMD – Makin’ Dollas
Mello Music Group: 2011

Hailing from Maryland, the rapper-producer duo of DTMD (Dunc & Toine Makin’ Dollas) is hella laid back to say the least. Given the groovy, relaxed beats and the unhurried, simple flow of the emcee, none of the tracks from their new disc, Makin’ Dollas, jump up and smack you in the face.

Still a very solid album, Makin’ Dollas – yeah, they seem to like that phrase a lot – does have some utility in the fact that one can simply hit play and walk away. It’s a great album for a chill smoke session with some overly-chatty friends, while you’re cleaning up the crib or eating some really loud chips. It’s one of those that you can put on and fade in and out of paying attention to. And there’s barely a skit to get in the way of the continued, easy listening.

Content-wise, the rhymes vary only slightly – dude’s either talking about what he’s rhyming about, why he’s raps and is better than it than most or his quest to make money doing so. Some tracks tackle coherent topics like street life or the importance of being unique and true to one’s self. One of the better tracks is “You”, which aims to motivate us all to be ourselves amidst stress, distractions and life moving at light speed. Another keeper is “Raw (featuring Godly MC and Kev Brown)”, the album’s only song with features, a straight-forward track about mic skills over a non-descript beat and guitar loop.

And, as far as the beats go, they’re pretty similar and re-use a lot of the same effects or VERY similarly-sounding ones. But, the like-ness of the beats does lead to a cohesive, seamlessly laid out album that has no sharp or annoying breaks in the flow. Standouts in production include the soul-sampling “Untitled” and “The Struggle is Real”, as well as the Dilla-esque “Fantastic”.

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3 out of 5

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  • http://twitter.com/MelloMusicGroup MelloMusicGroup

    a) there are 4 other features on the album, you must have been too busy eating chips and cleaning to notice.

    b) everything is not Dilla-esque, it’s a trite way to say you have a very narrow frame of reference for underground hip-hop. At least say it’s a little more Pete Rock or Touch of Jazz-esque, but even that doesn’t really do more than scratch the surface.

    c) calling it a “very solid album” and giving it a 3/5 is inconsistent. Imagine a teacher writing on your term paper “very solid writing and cohesive” then giving you a D or 60%.

    In short, I normally have mad respect for other people’s opinions, even if they don’t like something, but in this case, I disagree.

  • Thomas

    “none of the tracks from their new disc, Makin’ Dollas, jump up and smack you in the face.” <<< "Been Trying" hit me in my face!

  • Drew Turner Millard

    My initials are “DTM” and so I got really excited and thought I made a mixtape when I was blacked out. REAL HIP HOP

  • http://musicnerdery.com E.

    i fucks with it.

  • Nuunya

    How does a “Very Solid album” Equal a 3? I wouldn’t mind you giving it a 3 if you gave the album a 3 review…It seems you only said that to keep the Backpacker heat off yourself…If an album is only a 3, you gotta write a 3 album review…Your review has way too many contradictions. Crap…Besides this is the ONLY site that didn’t at least give it a 4, so are you just trying to be Contrarian? If so clean up the contradictions, because How is something very solid yet “none of the tracks from their new disc, Makin’ Dollas, jump up and smack you in the face”? It’s one or the other, if it was just “ight” to you, write an “ight” review then!

  • pothead

    turrible review!! nothing worse than when the reviewer appears to have not thoroughly listened to the whole album or checked the liner noters..