Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of July 10th-16th, 2016:
Metasota - #RUMDMT
01. Be Ready (w/Jamela Pettiford & TEK)
02. If I Die (w/WhyKaliq)
03. Hands Up
04. Get Down (w/Proper T)
05. Sheet Music (w/Proper T)
06. RUMDMT
07. Lake 80's (w/Reefa Rei)
08. PSA (w/Busdriver)
09. Organic Growth
10. Freedom (w/Destiny Roberts & Ashley DuBose)
11. Ain't No Love
12. Smile (w/MOS)
13. All I Know
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| (Metasota by Adam DeGross) |
On Metasota's H.I.P & H.I.P.2 releases, he was trading in the first two categories. Those albums found Metasota rapping about about his life in the Twin Cities. The positive, the negative, the struggles of indie rap, the parties, the joy of rapping for rapping's sake, and, especially on H.I.P.2, the camaraderie of it all. He was simultaneously frustrated & awestruck with his place in the Twin Cities.
#RUMDMT, on the other hand, seems to have been recorded with the goal of cultural snapshot because, frankly, we've found ourselves at a place in history that requires documentation. #RUMDMT stands as Meta's portrait of and reaction to the violence facing young black men in America.
Recorded after the death of Jamar Clark (and prior to the death of Philando Castile), Meta does not pull any punches. "I'd rather run with the bulls than graze with the sheep or sleep with the fishes..." is the first line we hear on the album and it serves as the album's mission statement. Meta's not going to stand to the side of the issues. He's hurt, he's angry, he's confused, and he's coping with it all in the only way he knows how: through his art.
Appropriately the album runs the gamut of those emotions. Opening run of "If I Die," "Hands Up," & "Get Down" are the pleas of an angry young man, demanding revenge even at the expense of his own life. Those three songs string together a loose narrative of a self-fulfilling cycle of violence, anger, & retribution. However, the choruses of each songs belie pleas for understanding (particularly the "If I can't live free..." refrain of "Hands Up" which recalls the "We're gonna be alright..." refrain adopted at many protests).
Meta spends the next two songs trying to take his mind off of the confusing violence that surrounds him. "Sheet Music" is a bedroom romp that introduces the term "dick-notized" into the lexicon. The album's titular track finds Meta retreating deep into the recesses of his own mind, eschewing rapping entirely for mournful horns and the sort of cacophony of voices that only grow louder as the noise of the outside world grows more quiet.
The second half of the album brings three songs that step back from the immediacy of physical violence to analyze the cultural aspects of being a young black man in America. On "PSA" Busdriver & Meta take just one of those aspects (the never-ending curiosity over a black man's hair) and magnify it to illustrate the point that, even in casual interaction, it's difficult not to be made to feel like an outsider. "Freedom" and "Smile" open the door for Destiny Roberts, Ashley DuBose, & MOS, three female voices that stand in solidarity with the issues of violence and race that have dotted the album so far while also calling attention to the struggle of being a black woman in America. They stand as a stark reminder that America's issues with race are not limited strictly to police violence, but span age & gender as well.
Late album highlight "Organic Growth" is a moment of personal clarity on an album filled with emotion. Standing as the yin to "RUMDMT's" yang, this is the sound of Metasota pulling all of those scattered voices into a unified whole. While proucer Tek builds the most traditionally boom-bap beat on the album, Meta reminds himself that, while he stands with his brothers & sisters in the struggle, he's worked hard to build his own life in his own lane. It's the one moment on the album that calls back to those H.I.P. albums and the relief in Meta's voice is obvious. Despite the struggle surrounding him, he knows he can't let himself be consumed by violence, anger, and confusion. He's worked hard to build a life for himself and, though he knows that life could be snatched away over something as seemingly harmless as a routine traffic stop, it's a life worthy of a moment of peaceful reflection.
By refusing to resort to bumper-sticker sloganeering or "fuck the police" cliche, Metasota & Tek have made good on their desire to take a snapshot of this particularly tragic & confusing moment in history. #RUMDMT is definitely Meta's most bold statement yet as an artist and, more importantly, stands as one of the most detailed & nuanced statements on American culture right now. By making the political personal, the personal political, and the pain of a community palpable he's placed himself as an important voice in the Twin Cities music scene.
If you'd like to check out #RUMDMT for yourself you can head over to Metasota's Bandcamp page where it is available as a "Name Your Price" download.
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