Scales of a Broken Libra Review (One of my favorites)

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.

Track Breakdown:

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

Jah Bless

TO LISTEN to Scales of a Broken Libra for yourself follow the link below:

http://defdavyne.bandcamp.com