Music Review: Rhyson Hall is... The Sleeper Vol. 2(6/10)

When many UB students think of Buffalo, they envision a frozen tundra of endless snow and poorly paved roads that lead to nowhere but the academic spine and their Main Street bar of choice. Cries of “there’s nothing to do,” occur all too commonly in the corridors of quadrangles and dorm rooms of our university. Many of us would be shocked to discover that Buffalo is actually a culturally vibrant city, with a wealth of activities and entertainment just waiting to be discovered, literally right outside our doors.

Buffalo is home to a burgeoning music scene, and though bigger acts such as The Goo Goo Dolls, Ani Difranco, and the recently defunct Snapcase may garner most of the hometown press, our indie artists are top notch as well.

Hardcore music is always a hometown favorite, but within the past decade, Buffalo has begun to cultivate its own underground hip-hop scene. Deep Thinka Records, which is located on Hertel Ave., recently released Rhyson Hall is… The Sleeper Vol. 2, an album by UB student and emcee Rhyson Hall.

The disc is a brief but personal venture into Rhyson’s (pronounced like “reason”) life in which he rhymes about everything from his father going to prison to what his dream girl would be like. He is almost at times reminiscent of Talib Kweli or Mos Def, displaying intelligence and depth in his verse, creating references to such things as Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and growing up in a single parent household, rather than just making the ubiquitous sex and money track. He displays a keen sense for social description on the track “Respiration,” where he says, “Thin line between the hood and the ‘burbs… Go from you shootin’ hoops and the chirping of birds/ To the youth shootin’ you and niggas puffin’ on herbs.” The album suffers though, because of its length. Many of the songs, such as the just under one minute “Dreamgirl” which seems prematurely cut off, are too short and a bit underdeveloped, causing the album to lose steam and making it sound a bit fragmented.

The production is surprisingly good for an indie album, and sounds almost radio-ready, save for the fact that the beats are a bit too derivative of today’s popular rap music. Overall, Rhyson Hall is… The Sleeper Vol. 2 is a pretty good album from an up-and-coming emcee. Rhyson shows promise for the future, and what he lacks in style and finesse he makes up for in energy and smartly penned lyrics. Rhyson and his new album represent just a small taste of the immense pool of talent and fun that UB students can find if they seek out native Buffalo music.