Angerville

Available online as a free download, The Anger Management EP introduces two upcoming T-dot talents in a fitting collaboration between producer Gamshooter, who has worked with Above the Law, Nish Raawks and Bishop Brigante, and MC duo Conscious Thought and Fortunato, who, with an occasional posthumous verse from honorary third member Ill Da Shystee, form Angerville. The EP opens strong, with Gamshooter utilising a heavy synthesiser bass as the backbone to a dark, spacey funk jam for a cocky Angerville introduction. “Rage-A-Holic,” an angry, fist-pumping anthem that pays tribute to both marijuana and rapping as superb sources of stress relief, is the perfect follow-up, setting a high standard for the rest of the album. It also presents the ideal image of what a group named Angerville should sound like but, unfortunately, they never again match that intensity. Instead, things mellow out with “Hip Hop” and “Hustlin’,” the best two of a string of songs with that grimy New York underground sound. From there it’s an all-in-one combination of true life tales, braggadocio battle raps, hip-hop love and witty one-liners. With this collaboration, both Gamshooter and Angerville demonstrate plenty of potential, even if it’s not terribly original. Still, The Anger Management EP is well worth the effort of a download for more than just the superb “Rage-A-Holic.” (Independent) - Exclaim Magazine

Angerville – Rebellion (independent)
By: Thomas Quinlan

Sometimes it seems like Toronto has an endless supply of street rappers emulating the American formula, so it's refreshing when a group like Angerville comes along to represent the T-dot properly. While Angerville rappers Fortunato and Conscious Thought are still spitting raps from a street perspective, there's obviously thought and care put into their lyrics. They've got braggadocio tracks like “The Way We Do” and “Nobody Cares,” the latter featuring a wicked verse from Kdot, but they've also got concepts covered with songs like “60 Seconds,” which drops a bunch of rhymes using the number “60” in just one minute; “8Bit,” which relates their lives to old school video games; and “Rap Mistress,” where they attempt the somewhat played out idea of hip-hop as a mistress or girlfriend. With emo tracks “Dear Dad” and “My Valentine,” Angerville wear their hearts on their sleeve for just a little bit, but then they prove how rebellious they can be with “The Rules” and “Break the Law,” the latter with another Kdot verse, this one in need of a little better breath control. The preferred sound of Rebellion appears to be smooth but gritty, New York-influenced production with a solid backbone of drums, soul samples, and plenty of piano and strings. While that means Rebellion's 22 tracks has a tendency to blend together after a while, Angerville does step out of that mold for a few tracks: “The Rules” bumps hard with a nice horn sample, “The Way We Do” does a fantastic job of incorporating what sounds like a shamisen and a Japanese flute instrument into a rather unique hip-hop beat, and “Nobody Cares” brings the synth. Sure, Rebellion may be a slightly long trip, but there's plenty of good sights to see in Angerville.

For more on Angerville check out http://www.myspace.com/angervilleforever
_________________ - Exlaim Magazine

Angerville is steadily on the grind for 2008. On top of the solid "Angerville v. Royce Birth" album, they also dropped "Rebellion" – an album with producer Gamshooter. This time around it's not a conceptual album as Gamshooter is more of their day to day producer and this allows the group to show off their skills a little more. Without the pressure of conforming to the conceptual nature of the last album, Angerville seems to let loose more and drops a lot more variety on this CD. For those who didn't peep the "Angerville v.s Royce Birth" review (shame on you), Angerville is a Canadian duo of emcees with a penchant for more hardcore, traditional hip-hop. They're kind of like a Canadian version of M.O.P. except they don't have the deep, growling voices. That's no slight as I think few people could replicate the aggression of the Mash Out Posse. Last time around they dropped a concept album where up and coming producer Royce Birth provided some dark and grimy beats. This time around they collaborate with Gamshooter and while the beats aren't as dark as before, they are still solid and thump plenty hard.

The album kicks off with "The Rules" where the duo visits its humorous and serious side at the same time:

"Yo, when I see the cops coming I just start running
Cause I know they gon' try and lock me up for nothing
And I really don't like the Po
It seems like they always rolling up when I'm lighting the dro
Spark it! They want to lock me up
Interrogate me, pick my brain and slap me like a hockey puck
The hood's jumping, drug spots pumping
Back against the wall, that's when the thugs start thumping
Yeah, G-code First rule is silence
Second rule, heed the first or else there's going to be violence
Third rule, run whenever you hearing them sirens
Fourth rule, if you got a gat get rid of the iron
Fifth rule, give your jewels to a friend, someone you trust
That way you'll still have your shine when you get back from the pen
Rule number six, you should never shit where you live
Your best friends will turn to enemies and run in your crib
Rule number seven, simple, simple no maybes
If you rolling with a gat you need to keep it off of safety
Rule eight, keep it hood it ain't good to act crazy
Ninth rule, stay sharp, sharks wait til you lazy"

The crew isn't all street raps this time around either as they mix things up plenty on here. "Rap Mistress" is another song comparing rap to a woman, but it's a nice little song for the duo. "Dear Dad" is a heartfelt letter to the rapper's father that really touches the heart. "My Valentine" is a track dedicated to the ladies and it's something I would have never expected from this duo, but it's not bad for a thug love song. The crew even does the concept track on "8Bit" where they state they "spit that 8bit shit" but don't quite flesh out the concept as well as they could, barely alluding to the fact that "8Bit" is slang to the old school.

Overall, this is a better CD for Angerville as the emcees show more of what they are capable of. It's disappointing in a way as I would have loved to hear them come this hard on the last CD, but that's a personal thing since I prefer the darker sound. Gamshooter is no slouch on the boards, it's just a matter of personal preference. At 22 tracks the biggest real complaint is the length of this album. It gives you plenty of bang for your buck, but some of the songs end up repetitive in topic and sound and there are some throwaway tracks. The main one that comes to mind is a pointless McDonald's skit which I'm sure sounded hilarious to them as they recorded it but stands out as the low point on an otherwise solid album. Up to this point, Canada has slowly been getting a rep for being the home to emcees dedicated to "real hip-hop" – the kind of rap that takes us back to the golden era. The funny thing is that most Canadian rappers doing that kind of rap tend to focus on the fact that they are making "real hip-hop." Angerville on the otherhand just makes rap from the heart – it tends to be a hardcore, thugged out heart at times – but still they basically make hip-hop about their life and circumstances. In the end, Angerville's rap sounds more like the hardcore NY street hop that dominated the 1990s than the Classifieds and DL Incognitos of the world. That's no slight to either Classified or DL as I enjoy them both, but if you like your rap hardcore and banging you'd do well to check out Angerville.

Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10

Originally posted: December 9, 2008
source: www.RapReviews.com

- Rapreviews.com

The Aurora/Parkdale duo of Conscious Thought and Fortunato may be the hardest working group in hip-hop right now, rapidly releasing one quality album after another, with no end in sight. Their collaboration with Royce Birth on the beats might just be the best of the lot so far. Royce’s hard-hitting production is a highlight, bringing out the braggadocio battle raps of Angerville. The result is an album of fist-pumping anthems and witty one-liners requiring the use of the rewind button but never the fast-forward. Blood, Sweat & Tears also features some of their most impressive guests, with D.O. and Tona dropping dope verses alongside Angerville and Via Linez on “Broken Drums,” as well as regular contributor K-Dot presenting his usual deadpan swagger on “Back to the Basics,” the song most similar to the group’s previous output, and rapper/producer Royce Birth contributing his only verse on one of the few songs with a message, the sobering “Harsh Reality.” Blood, Sweat & Tears serves as a perfect introduction to Angerville for those unfamiliar with the group, while fans will need to add this to their collection. (Independent)

http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=126&csid2=865&fid1=33667 - Exclaim Magazine

Angerville may be the coolest name for a hip-hop group I've heard in quite a while. Sure, it's basically a different take on the Shadyville DJs, but still it brings up an image quite quickly � a city full of mad rappers. When I say "mad" I don't mean robbing other rappers with an annoying voice "madd," I mean angry at the world mad. Some of the best rappers to come out have been angry when they delivered their best work. Angerville isn't quite as angry as their name may imply, but they still turn in a commendable performance on this collaboration album. MCs Conscious Thought and Fortunato make up the group Angerville. Originally consisting of three emcees, third group member Ill da Shystee was tragically murdered at the young age of 22. The two remaining emcees are based in Aurora, Ontario and are the latest in a long line of Canadian acts to show they can hang with their US counterparts. Not much info can be found about producer Royce Birth, but he handles the beats on "Blood, Sweat, & Tears."

The crew immediately kicks you in the gut with "Built From Scratch." Royce Birth puts together a menacing beat with loud, distorted horns and alarm-sounds � on paper it sounds like a mess, but it is truly gritty, hardcore gold. The rappers take full advantage of the aggressive beat:

"We impact you emcees who want to be real
Talk shit and we gon' take you on a trip to the 'Ville
I'm old school still writing all my rhymes with a quill
Shining so bright I change the forecast at will
Suns come out, we bringing that heat you feel
Grab a rapper by the face and put his grill on the grill
Like an Ice Cube album we gon' kill em at will
Emcee's worried bout the face, while we building our skills
Leaving all you snakes shook, cut your throats like ills
We ain't here to pay bills, we just here to build
Bring it back to the skills, leave that shit in my will
I can't make the world better so I'm making it ill
They telling me chill, but really they ain't knowing the deal
There's a war on hip-hop, people saying it kills
They outlaw, thinking music is a cause of they ills
Not realizing that violence is a part of they wills"

These guys aren't the best rappers out there as they rhyme the same syllable for a whole verse on this track, but they bring energy and rawness to the music which makes up for their lyrical shortcomings. This energy, coupled with the dope, dark beats, makes for an interesting album. The main drawback for the group is the lack of diverse subject matter. The track titles are plenty interesting with names like "Uprise of the Machines" and "Broken Drums" but in the end a lot of the tracks cover the same subject despite the differing song titles. Given that the album is divided into Side A and Side B on the tracklisting one would think there would be a big difference between each side, but Side B gives us more of the same. "Marauders" flips a simple, but funky, loop but the raps themselves are about the lyrical and physical prowess of the rappers involved which can be said about 75% of the album. A few tracks deviate from the pattern, "Heavyweight Slang" being the highlight, but overall most of the album consists of trash talking verses over different beats. That said, these guys stay interesting despite the lack of diversity in the music and I have to admit given their angry steez one should expect angry trash talk aplenty.

Overall, "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" is an interesting album sure to contribute positively to the discography of all rappers and producers involved. Royce Birth has a knack for flipping soul samples in a dark and gritty manner with great success. Even when his beats lack the dark element, they tend to have a catchy, yet rugged element to them that make you take notice. Angerville's aggressive style fits nicely over these rugged beats. From this album, I would say that Royce Birth is the star of this show with his production, but Angerville does a great job riding his beats. Together, the collaboration makes for some head-nodding rap music. Given the group's darker and aggressive style and the gifted producer I can't help but compare these guys to Jedi Mind Tricks. The same complaints lodged against that group, mainly the lack of diversity and Vinnie Paz's lyrical shortcomings, can also be lodged against this group. With that said, I personally enjoy JMT despite their shortcomings and I enjoyed Angerville's latest as well. There's room for growth, but this is definitely a group underground rap fans should keep on their radar.

Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 6.5 of 10

Originally posted: December 2, 2008
source: www.RapReviews.com - Rapreviews.com