By Alex P80 Parks

Magno Garcia delivers his new LP, Monastery Monk Methods with production handled entirely by long-time friend and frequent collaborator Evilldewer.

Following up his early summer EP Element of Surprise, Mag takes a different route on the beats, utilizing the home-town homie, Evilldewer, to produce all of the tracks on MMM.

Mag himself describes the project as “A glimpse of all aspects of Magno. The vulnerable, the strong, the street side, the faith side, the past, present, and future. Everything from the cover to the track titles was all calculated. The goal is to make the album an experience for the listener and make sure they get the most quality out of Magno as they can. How i rap on this project is how i wanna continue rapping for the foreseeable future, at least content wise. I’ll give you depth with the fly ish mixed in.”

For the beats, Mag turned to the artistic mastermind Evilldewer to handle production on the project. It’s difficult to classify the immense talent of the ‘Waveform Scientician.’ Constantly pushing the envelope sonically, Evilldewer creates unique canvases for Magno to spray his in-depth lyricism on. Together they are an imposing pair.

Mag hits hard with his fiery delivery and confident vocals. The Chelsea, Massachusetts emcee pours his heart and soul into every bar, never sounding weak or soft in the process. His lyrical content is often centered on philosophical enlightenment and the evolution of his intellect. In his rhymes he maintains a level of awareness, continually contemplating the desire for fame and material goods versus his strong commitment to staying true to the craft.

“Acclimations of Science” Evilldewer crafts a tense beat full of dusty drums. Magno spits:

“the rhyme given was a ritual, miracle.

Given to the lowest of residuals

Pitiful.

Shine from the dullest moment poppin.

I’m locked in,

Shorty seemed promising to talk with.”

“Fast Money” Feat Ralphiie Reese is a standout track. Evilldewer creates a somber tone with a jazzy solo trumpet on the chorus. Ralphiie tosses in an ill rhyme with his gruff vocals to complement Magno’s sharp delivery.

“Pyramid Scheme” Evilldewer lays a chopped orchestral sample with a stutter effect. Mag deconstructs the fallacies that many in life fall victim to. The content poses Magno as precise and methodical throughout. He continues to eye the crown while maintaining a safe distance in order to calculate his next moves.

“Open Prayer” Evilldewer develops that jazzy sound again with a chopped sax sample and background synth organs. Mag opens up on this track, not straying from the concept, while denouncing the false prophets spewing propaganda.

“Blu Mags” feat Blu another standout track, Magno recruits an unlikely ally for this track to great results. West Coast emcee Blu offers up his smooth-yet-consciously clever rhymes to pair with Magno’s commanding mic presence on this successful collab. Evilldewer flips all types of crazy samples on this joint, keeping heads on their toes. The beat on the second verse is peak-form dark Evilldewer, with a brooding and menacing sample.

“Nefertiti” Evilldewer creates a triumphant sound with chopped up samples that breathe in and out every few bars. Magno illustrates failed relationships, and the importance of kings(men) relying on their queens to keep them afloat. He opens his heart and bares his soul to tell of a woman he waited for.. only for the love to not be reciprocated. The track shows Magno vulnerable, but never too soft or compromised.

“Robe of Scars” Magno Garcia spits thoughtful bars over subtle chimes and flutes in the background. The beat is gentle and delicate to contrast with Magno’s firm delivery.

Magno:

“The rolls Royce get hit with 5 nines,

vehicular homicide, grated like

Parmesan at Ramadan

You dress like you visiting Comicon

You not a don.

Draining from the battle scars

Try to calm,

the agent orange

Feelin Like it’s ether

this Vietnam

But not really

Bad boy living, but not Biggie.”

Mag has become an extremely focused emcee, crediting Chandelier Shining as the work he’s most proud of, leading up to this project. He states that the work he did prior to CS was important in his development but the emcee he’s become is evident starting with that album.

“Liberation” another standout track on this album gets a psychedelic intro and Evilldewer lays the beat out, sounding like a vintage Nintendo RPG game. Magno describes of the freedom (or lack of) through the ages and also of the need to be liberated from the shackles of this brainwashed culture we’re all living in. He continually touches on technology controlling our lives, and becoming slaves to entertainment as opposed to evolving our intellects.

“Fly Foreign Affairs” feat King Author and Da Flyy Hooligan the track utilizes one of Evilldewer’s sonically creative soundscapes for all 3 emcees to lay some top notch rhymes over.

“Meditating Monk” Layering chopped-up piano loops with a low frequency blast, the dark 80’s deep synth vibe suits Mag’s pointed delivery.

Mag definitely delivers on this album full of contemplation and reflection. He spares no wasted verse to inject his personal views on life, culture and society taking over our minds and spirits. Evilldewer brings some of his more refined and focused beats on this album, while continuing to craft some of the most unique and avant-garde sounds from any producer. Magno Garcia and Evilldewer certainly create a dynamic duo on this project. Cop the album, and listen real close to the truly unique beats and intelligent lyrics on Monastery Monk Methods.

Cop the album here:

http://magnogarcia.bandcamp.com/album/monastery-monk-methods