By Alex P80 Parks
“The Mind is a weapon. Manifestation is a tool.”
Sleep Sinatra continues his prolific output with his latest effort, The PeaceMaker EP. Employing only Body Bag Ben on production, the EP finds the Nebraskan emcee on familiar sonic ground. Ben does a great job of creating beats that induce nonstop head-nodding with sweet spot tempos while avoiding over-producing tracks with cluttered effects. Sleep finds his groove easily, sounding unforced over the 6-track project.
On “Animal Instincts,” BodyBag Ben uses a playful, rising sample that sounds like it could’ve been plucked from the original Willy Wonka movie score. The loop sways as Sleep creeps over the beat. Casablanca comes through for a verse on “Stress” as Ben uses a couple simple piano loops and some rumbling bass for the emcees to spit measured bars on. With “HighNoon” the loop is a bit repetitive, but gets the job done, sounding like a broken saloon piano. “In the Trenches” featuring Guy Grams is a highlight as Ben relies on a more melodic arrangement with his soulful loop choices here. On the title track, Sleep’s flow just tumbles across the meandering beat, rhyming “these ni***s leeches, I burn em wit the same match I use to spark the movement.” On “Ballads of Sad Men,” Inglewood, CA emcee General BackPain spits his relaxed-yet-focused flow over the booming bass and full sonics of the droning beat.
BodyBag Ben shows off his collaborative skills on this project after just releasing his compilation album The Season to plenty of praise. Ben also brings some legit skills with his scratching and cuts on the hooks and at the end of every track. Clearly Ben has the potential to stick around and create a solid bodybag of work as he emerges as a new talent. Sleep continues to further his legacy with his highly selective collaborations which always yield positive results.
Cop the album here:
Deeply Rooted HipHop 