DJ Drez & Zaire Black – “Panoramic Utopia”
DJ Drez and Zaire Black make a very solid team in their hip-hop album “Panoramic
Utopia”. Their blend of novel lyricism and wax-spinning makes for an interesting walk down a
new avenue of the genre. That said, the beats and instrumentals generally outshine the lyrics,
with many different cultural sounds blended with traditional heavy beats. It covers a whole lot
of musical ground while delivering mostly solid though occasionally vomit-inducing (see “Damn
Girl”) lyrics. Best tracks: 2, 3, 15 Honorable Mention: 4, 5
1. “A Taste” – Typical introduction; many spliced together songs, some sped up and some
slowed down
2. **“One Two” –Mild FCC warning: some lyrics towards the middle are very sexual in
nature, very minor key, smooth lyrics over heavy beat with sound clips from a horror
movie soundtrack; completely changes into a reggae-sounding tune with same deep beat
3. **“Dying Breed” – Awesome beat borrowed from Dizzee Rascal’s “Fix Up, Look
Sharp”, electronic-reverb type melody, chorus lyrics somewhat weak; interesting motoric
bass in the background at times, ends up with DJ spinning wax
4. *“Free” – Looped vocal melody with medium paced beat, major key; morphs into deep
African-sounding drums, retains vocal melody background
5. *“Days Work” – FCC: clean except for n-word in the middle; begins with soft beat and
minor key strings background, low brass kicks in with lyrics; chorus stands out with
higher brass, smooth lyrics, electronic sounds
6. “Vibe Interlude” – short interlude track with female vocals and bubbly sounds
7. “That Vibe Pt. 1” – Bebop-sounding bass, hand-drum background with a medium
underlying beat, quickly turns into another wax spinning session with low violin
8. “That Vibe Pt. 2” – Major key wind chime, piano beginning with hand drum, bass kicks
in, forceful beat kicks in, medium-fast paced, consistent throughout
9. “Damn Girl” – FCC: short female vocal clip could be deemed inappropriate ; very slow
paced, major key piano background with low bass, very light beat; simplistic group
chorus, unbelievably corny lyrics throughout; string solo develops towards middle
10. “Tomorrow” – Initially choppy beat, major key electronic melody, occasional R+B
sounding male vocals; not much evolution throughout, stays the same
11. “Come Again” ft. Nikko – FCC: vulgarity about 3/5 through; slow paced, electronic
major key melody; reserved beat, solid lyrics, catchy female vocal chorus;
12. “East Interlude” – Very short interlude with female vocals, Indian horn and percussion
13. “Now” – Saxophone beginning, Indian percussion in the background, heavy beat kicks
and blends in well; simple, deep major key bass; assumes a house music edge halfway
through, little triangle-esque sounds with loud synths on each kick beat, then goes back
to original
14. “Earth” – Cool minor key flute beginning, choppy beat with Reggae piano and Rastah
spoken word, pace quickens halfway through and flute hook returns; should’ve stuck
with the flute riff for the whole piece; no real rapping in this track
15. ***“Sah Jahta” – Superb track, begins with beat from “Milkshake”, assumes Middle-
Eastern minor key sounding horns, forceful, catchy beat with excellent snare, very
smooth lyrics; chorus is the horns again, becomes a dance anthem with a minute left
16. “Reclear” ft. Marty Williams – Motoric, minor key bass guitar melody; nice chorus with
staccato strings and hand drums
17. “Words” – Middle-Eastern sounding drone sounds, wax spinning and random vocals;
medium beat and throbbing bass give it life, no real rapping in this one though; more of
an outro
- Iceman Earl
(Mark Friese)