Def Davyne is in my opinion the savior of hip-hop as a
genre. His album, Scales of a Broken Libra is a perfect package of everything
that defines hip-hop. With authentic and crisp hip-hop instrumentals he flows
over with truthful, honest, and down to earth lyrics that can touch the hearts
of every person around the world no matter your location. He relates to people
in general on every level. His songs are an excellent blend of instrumentals,
flow, punch lines, and Def Davyne keeps it interesting with his ever-changing
style and flow in his lyrics. No one song sounds the same PERIOD. He relates to
real-life events with each and every track, including those on a personal,
national, sociological, and industrial (Meaning the music industry), religious,
and romantic level.
Intro:
The introduction shares a deep
and dark-tone that appeals to each and every person with the words, “The eternal struggle, between good
and evil, is nothing new…
Every mans conscience, reminds him of the difference, between right
and wrong
The decision of life, or death, is an easy one… but not everything,
is black, and white…
And to the brown man, who wears a blindfold, what is day or night,
dark, or light…” to express that everyone has struggles in life no matter who you
are. The only thing that will separate you from others in this life is to have
the ability to identify such issues and address them accordingly and adapt to
situations that arise during your lifetime.
Davyne’s flow is smooth, consistent, and quick. He continues to kill
the instrumentals punch line after punch line and has even an extreme Hip-Hop
critic such as myself going back to recollect the lyrics that I’ve just heard
and consistently bring up the thought in my head, “Damn” This track has left me
nearly speechless, but what separates this album from all others I’ve heard is
that not only does this track leave me speechless, but it continues to do so
track after track. His instrumental interpretation has everything that defines
hip-hop, but is crisp, clean cut and smooth, not rugged as with older hip-hop.
His lyrical interpretation covers multiple topics quickly and
effectively. The second verse consists of his thoughts on the industry and he
constantly battles with himself mentally in an attempt to make a decision to
either stay underground or make an attempt to jump into the mainstream and
become widely known and have his music spread and heard on a mass media market.
Game of Thrones:
With Game of Thrones, Davyne takes a cocky approach to express and
represent his city, himself as a whole, and to express that the industry majors
are not alone and that they better “Watch their throne” in reference to Kanye
West and Jay Z who express that they are the kings of Hip-Hop.
In the hook Def expresses that he often hides the truth and his own
thoughts in order to surprise those who doubt him not only as an individual, but
also as an artist.
The song references his hood and area in which he lives to describe
that not everyone are as they seem so you must keep to yourself in order to
keep from being taken advantage of. He references the devil in relation to the
evil in the world and says that you must put up your guard or “metal skin” to
stop the evil of the world from getting inside your soul and consuming who you
are as an individual. It also expresses that money often consumes people who
they are as individuals and causes them to become something different than which
they really are and sell their souls in the industry. He also emphasizes that
some say money is evil, but can make dreams a reality by referencing that Magic
Johnson was cured due to the fact that he had the necessary money to afford
such treatment to emphasize that the world, not only the industry, is crocked
and only cares about those who have money.
Flight School:
In the track Flight School he
expresses that he doesn’t know if he will ever become successful in life, the
industry, and achieve his dreams as an individual but through it all he will do
all that he can in his power to make it happen as long as he is alive. He
expresses this dream with words such as
I know that I’m not perfect
But everyday I try
Bet you gon’ see me working
Till the day that I die
He continues to elaborate on his thoughts about his life, his city,
and his ambitions in life and expresses that even thought he has had a rough
life thus far, that he will stop at nothing to see success.
Conspiracy:
This song torches a political and world issue by taking the approach
of Iraq and U.S. citizens in relation to the war in Iraq, the crookedness of
politics, and even individuals by stating that people call the truth conspiracy
in relation to the government always trying to keep everything away from the
general public so that no citizen will know what is actually occurring. He
touches basis on individuals by expressing that those in America who make money
the illegal way (drug dealers) are often harassed by the government due to the
fact that they have no cut of the profits that they receive and constantly
fight against it, instead of legalizing such products like marijuana to
stimulate the economy. He touches on the aspect of Iraq in relation to the
U.S.’s secret of the use of drones to kill helpless civilians being identified
and expressed to the general public as well. In conclusion the song is about
the government’s actions against all people of the world, yet they appear upset
when the truth comes into the light.
Answers:
This is a powerful song that is established in the future mind of
Devyne looking back on his life and his career in which he asks himself
questions about the people that listen to his music.
The first verse defines who he is and asks the questions that every artist
will ask himself before coming into the industry such as:
When they hear my rap, will it make me strong?
Do they even understand what I’m saying in my songs?
When its time to go, what will I leave behind
Will it help them see, will it make them blind
Will it keep em down, or elevate their mind
Will it grind em up, or will it help em grind
The second verse describes his current situation: Being a student of
Full Sail University and his thoughts and occurrences on what he hears from
individuals in relation to what he should do, suggestions on what to do, but
again as with each song before this, he established a second point of view and
asks the necessary questions that everyone should ask in search of the best
possible answers.
The third verse contains his position once he enters the industry
and describes how he wishes to change the game and again he asks himself
questions about the industry and his role in the game in which he asks will I
make it to 40, will I make it home from the party, and so forth. He describes
that he is in a frail position with his current age, but again expresses that he
will stop at nothing to be successful in his search for answers.
Title Track: Scales of A Broken Libra
The first verse is all about the life that Devyne once lived and
steadily transitions into him moving out at age 16 to pursue his own dreams and
ambitions. During this verse he describes how he was “Section 8 raised” and
“Moved every 9 months like a baby out the womb” to describe the rough way of
living that he was exposed to as a child.
The second verse gets deeper and describes how as time went by nothing
has changed and that life in the ghetto is still a struggle and nothing has
been developed in the city and that people are still doing the same thing, and
acting the same way that they were several years before the present time.
Body Language:
The song is a track that expresses a gentler side of Devyne both
lyrically and instrumentally. This track describes a love story between him and
a significant other in which he states that he cares for her no matter what
happens, and that he wants to get to know her before they have a sexual
encounter. The second verse describes
that he is still around even after the two have a sexual encounter and reveals
that she has a boyfriend but that he will treat her the way she deserves to be
treated, and that even if people are against their relationship that they will
continue to see each other despite what others think.
Better Day:
This song is a continued version that is dated later than the
previous song in which Devyne describes that the girl he had an encounter with
and her boyfriend are having problems and that he will help her be comfortable
with herself and be able to express herself without him judging her in a
negative way.
The hook sung by Stefano Moses is powerful and full of phrasing.
Stefano uses his powerhouse vocals to express that when everything begins to
fall apart (The stars are falling) and that he knows the feeling because he
himself has been in such a situation before.
The second verse by Deveyne describes how he can tell that his
lover’s current relationship is breaking her down and describes how he feels
about the situation he’s in being stuck in the middle of her life and not
knowing if their relationship will ever become anything more than an affair.
The final bridge sung by Stefano is a prime example of powerhouse
vocals in which he stretches notes and show his true vocal range and ability to
phrase and dip quickly into Contralto tessitura (Very Low) and also transition
exceptionally into the Mezzo Sorprano range. (Mid-range)
My Brother:
This song is personal to Devyne and describes a situation that he
encountered with his brother. In which he describes his brother getting into a
lot of trouble in his youth and no matter what he still stood up for him
despite the situations he placed him in. He states in the hook that despite
what happens he still forgives him and that he will always be there through
thick and thin. The final verse describes situations on a larger point of view
in which Devyne describes that they are now grown up and are still close no
matter the past and that they’ve come a long way since their childhood.
Dear Momma:
This is an excellent example of Devynes diversity and versatility in
music in which the instrumentals contain an acoustic rhythm and smooth flowing
instrumentals that allow his flow to continue on smoothly with very little
breaks. The song’s title is self-explanatory and can be referenced to Tupac’s
Dear Mama, but is unique in it’s own right in every way. The lyrics describe
his situation as a child growing up and that he love’s his mother for all that
she has done for him and that she helped him with his career along the way and
gave him wisdom and inspiration to continue pursuing his dream. He also goes
into vivid detail his family as a whole, and all of the situations that he’s
gone through along the years. His flow in this particular track, like the rhythm
is smooth, laid-back and honest. He shows his religious side in the bridge by
referencing Jehovah (Or Jah) the African and Rastafarian term for God, and
shows that although he’s not one for religion, that it’s still apart of his
everyday life.
Like Father, Like Son
This song is another track that is close to Devyne’s heart and can
be associated with anyone in life who has been through such hardship that is
faced in the ghetto, and rough inner-city streets. The title references to his
father’s actions, in which he states that he started to do the same things as
he done. He also touches your soul with analogies such as “I popped a whole box
of pills, I didn’t wanna die, just didn’t wanna feel” which can describe how
people feel about taking drugs to overcome hardships as an alternative in hopes
that the pain will go away.
He later states that his parent’s split when he was a young age and
that it has become difficult to cope with the situation and that he doesn’t see
the point of marriage when it always ends with divorce.
The instrumentals to the song are are beautiful in a musical sense
with slow piano chords, slow riding bass and slow snares that are only
recognizable at certain points throughout the song. Devyne’s flow can be
described as that of Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony. It has a fast pace with slowed down
points through out the verses to emphasize particular points and occurrences in
his life. This song is one that, yet
again, shows a softer side of the artist and is my personal favorite so far on
the album. This song, is true hip-hop, and I’m not even gonna flex, when
listening to the song I thought of my past and the similar events that have occurred
in my life and nearly came to tears myself.
Gangsta:
This song is for lack of politically correct terms, a gangsta’s
prayer. The song expresses the daily life of a gangster who roams the streets
all hours of the day and night, carrying pistols and other weapons, and that
also expresses situations that occur in gangster’s lives on a daily basis. He
continues to describe that he will do anything to stop his son from following
the path of the street life, and that he will do everything in his power to
keep his son out of the streets. The authentic hip-hop feel touches his Hispanic
side by using hard hitting bass line, and the authentic West Coast style by
using deep vocals along with mid-range phrasing near the end of lines in the
song (Similar to what Snoop Dogg does). The last verse sates that if his son
has no other choice but to end up a gang member that the Lord will protect him
and that he will turn out to be as real as he can be as a member, because if he
doesn’t that he knows what the ending could be and that he ultimately finds a
great woman to settle down with and leave the gang lifestyle, and in the end
bury him and carry on his legacy.
Understand:
Another fine example of Devyne’s use of acoustics in his
instrumentals and use of his smooth-flowing vocals to describe in detail a
relationship situation. This song is about his previous relationship as found
in other songs in which he admits the relationship didn’t work out, even though
the two of them both knew that It wouldn’t, although they still took a chance
at it and attempted to make things work. If you’ve been paying attention to the
vocals, the woman he mentions turns out to be his future love and the woman he
shares a child with. The hook is
performed magnificently by an unidentified female vocalist and is crisp, clean,
and as smooth as can be.
The instrumentals later switch up and piano replaces the acoustics
and creates a simple, yet beautiful rhythm that triggers emotions in anyone
what truly feel his music and can understand his lyrics.
Thank You:
This song is an excellent way to end the album and makes anyone who
listens to the album truly unique no matter who you are. Even though you may be
one of millions who listen to the album, you still feel a connection with
Devyne and his lyrics and his passion for music. I’m not going to describe the
lyrics to you, only say that you should most definitely listen to the album in
it’s entirety and realize that this truly is authentic hip-hop at it’s best and
that Devyne is a true, roots, authentic, and unique hip-hop artist.
Thanks to all who read this album review, if you wish to hear this
album, please get in contact with me and I will allow you to listen to it.
Right now I don’t have permission to release it to the general public, so until
I do no link will be provided to listen to it, however, if I see enough
interest in the album based on this review, I will contact the artist and get
it released to the public, a little at a time to keep you coming back.
THIS HAS BEEN A REAL WILL REVIEW
