E Major - Majority Rules (Under Sound Music)

This album isn't out officially until Tuesday, but since E Major threw me an advance preview a few weeks ago, and he's doing a release party at Fletcher's on Wednesday (which is also a release party for Ab Rock's new album), I thought I'd post about it now. I never heard his first album from a few years ago when he was still called Eyekon, but The Major General Mixtape from '06 was a good little teaser for this album. I know he kinda bristles at the 'backpacker' label but this record does kinda get on a Native Tongues/Okayplayer vibe, which I definitely mean as a compliment. I don't know who did all the beats but there's some real nice head-nodders on here, and his laid back voice/flow kinda matches the sound. You might remember the songs "Nuthin' Nice" and "Know That" from the video he dropped a few months ago, those are on here, along with the teaser single "Let's Pretend" that was on the previous mixtape. But my favorites are really ones on the second half of the album like "We Got It Goin' On" and "Give It To Y'all."

E Major - "How You Wanna Carry It?" (mp3)
I've been dying to get a copy of this song since he performed it at the Sonny Brown benefit @ the Turntable Club back in January, E Major was real slick to use the hook from Miss Tony's "What's Up What's Up," I loved that. I really feel like there's so many great old hooks in Baltimore club music that more rappers around here could really use those, the same way a lot of Southern rappers take hooks from old New Orleans bounce records and Miami bass.

Labels: E Major, flyer, mixtape/album review, mp3, Under Sound Music