Track By Track Review:
1. Intro- K'naan is reciting his views on the generation, poetry, and how he was introduced to Bob Dylan, and then the song goes into a slightly hip-hopped version (I think I hear Rakim in the background) of a Dylan song, which I actually really enjoyed, the hip hop mixing, and heavier drums didn't seem to drown out Dylan's exceptional lyricism as I would have imagined. (4/5)
2. Rhythmic Poetry (Interlude)- K’naan is talking about how he was introduced to rap, over a Dylan guitar loop, with a sample from a movie and random ‘Hip Hop’. (2/5) not much of a song, still pretty dope though.
3. Don’t Think Twice- Opens with the same beat in the interlude and a Dylan Interview sample, but K’naan gives you an introduction to what the album will be like by singing the verse, with Dylan on the other verse, they continue back and forth. Great singing and lyrics from K’naan, and Dylan was already great so…(4.5/5) Amazing Song.
4. No Great Message (Interlude)- Same Sort of Deal as last Interlude, Dylan dropping knowledge
5. 4th Time Around- More back and forth from K’naan and Dylan, I like this song, good lyrics on both parts, but not as good as Don’t think twice. More of a whiny sound, still good though. (4/5)
6. Voice of the Other Side- K’naan talks about Dylan, how he was the voice of the people. (2/5) good concept, but only an interlude.
7. Lay Lady Lay (Intro)- A Dylan interviewer asking questions about Africa, and then a portion of the last verse of Dylan’s song Lay Lady Lay. (3/5) my favorite interlude of the album.
8. Relationships Lay- First song not named after a Dylan song, so K’naan takes lead here. A song about love, and Dylan singing a portion of Lay Lady Lay, while K’naan talks to a significant somebody about how he loves her, and won’t let life affect his love. Good song, but not great. (3.5/5)
9. True Story (Interlude)- Dylan introducing the next track. (2/5) just talking, a little humorous though.
10. Hard Rain- A back and forth with Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall playing, while K’naan picks up where the lines left of continuing them through Dylan’s pauses in the lyrics. This goes on for two verses, and is amazing. The third and final verse, is just Dylan singing the third verse of the song. Beautiful, best song on the album (5/5)
11. It’s Alright Ma (Bonus)- Dylan opens with a witty quote from T.S. Elliot, the song then opens up with semi hard hitting drum opening. Dylan begins singing his song It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) and it stops after 4 verses, no K’naan. Still great though, (4.5/5)
Overall: An amazing concept, beautifully done. K’naan does an excellent job of showing how relevant Dylan’s music was, and still is today. K’naan actually compliments Dylan very well, and J.Period does an excellent job of sampling, and mixing. The album has great production. Rumor has it the bass player was live, so more props to him. For a free album, you would be crazy not to pick this up. It is an excellent album. My only complaint is there was too many interludes, taking up space that could have been more amazing tracks.
Download it here: http://www.jperiod.com/knaan/
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