By Alex P80 Parks
The rap game’s Billy Hoyle is back with Budget Cuts 2, SeKwence’s third album of 2018. Don’t be fooled by his Phish Phan country boy look, SeKwence spits serious bars with his raspy flow over some moody beats, continually creating some unique HipHop. The entire project is produced by Killer Kane which, overall, gives the album a cohesive feel.
Killer Kane has been busy himself this year, not only working with SeKwence, but collaborating with fellow Souless emcee Barry Marrow on his well-received project Kill Barry 2 and also on his own beat tape Forest for the Trees. This go around Kane creates an atmosphere, never too dark and bleak, yet dusty and foggy nonetheless.
With This Shit is Fucked, SeKwence went the route of varied production and a few features to bring listeners on a wild ride. With BC2, The alabaster Alabaman emcee brings you into his world, his own headspace. A place where you feel the tone and the murky vibe as you swim through the clouds. Overall, Killer Kane creates the psychedelic melancholy vibe well on this project.
“Chopping Block” Kane creates an almost island feel on this one with gentle strings and bouncy snares. SeK seems to just slip away and float over this euphoric track.
The jazzy feel of “All Talk” is slightly more dramatic in tone while maintaining the overall muddiness of the album. Kane adds some skittered drums to modernize what otherwise plays like a vintage mid 90’s beat.
SeKwence spits:
“I’m still the same from elementary
But these days I’m dodging penitentiaries and whiskey in my kidneys
I’m too blunt to even fake friendly
The maverick stop and shoot just like I’m Michael Finley
Yeah 92, that’s been some years ago
I’m 26, I found a place for all the fear to go.”
It’s lyrics like these that show SeKwence’s ability to weave the personal/ vulnerable content with the creative similes and metaphors and not sound trite or cliched.
With its dusty drums, Bread Truck feat. Krow” is a solid display from Krow and SeK, with each laying down some sharp rhymes. “Black Lungs” is a somber and hazy track where SeKwence rhymes of the inner turmoil, yet does so in such a pragmatic approach. On “Still Broke” SeKwence bounces his rhymes over a chopped piano sample and stuttering drums.
On “Drown” the sample ebbs and flows, sawing back and forth as SeK loses oxygen amidst a big cloud in the back of the whip.
Check “92 Rainman” on SoundCloud here:
https://soundcloud.com/sekwence/92rainman-prod-killerkane
As an artist, SeKwence continues to push his pen and create deeper content. He cites his demanding work schedule as a huge motivator and the need for a creative outlet.
SeK: “I feel like when I’m working over 60 hrs a week(at my day job) and I’m exhausted that’s when I make my best work and write my best. When I feel like I have to really push myself. Whether it’s an escape or it’s something to balance out the crazy hours at work, I need it and I find that’s when I’m at my best, especially when I have less time.”
The standout and most personal track of the album is the closer, “Resurrection.” SeKwence himself describes the track as “one of the most introspective songs of mine ever, if not the most.. just the whole stay true to your own path and never let ’em play you type shit.” Kane creates a similar feel to chopping black with a slightly more melodic sample. The mood is nostalgic but downtempo.
Even while making his mark with his distinctive sound, SeKwence doesnt cater to HipHop fans and he doesn’t try to appeal to listeners outside of his lane. The focus of his lyrics are often to escape the everyday. Maybe that’s what listeners are drawn to with SeKwence. At times he allows himself to open up about his personal stories and give you more insight into what he’s really made of. Often it’s the content of substance abuse/reliance, yet delivered in a sobering and unembellished manner creating a paradox. These lyrical moments shape the depth of artists and the complexity of their character.
One thing is evident, SeKwence is poised and primed to continue to carve out his spot, his own space with his niche brand of unique escapism HipHop for fans to float away with.
check the album here:
https://soundcloud.com/sekwence/sets/budget-cuts-2
And on iTunes here:
Deeply Rooted HipHop 