Obii Say

It's funny how things come together! My last blog entry was about what? FREESTYLING! CHECK THIS: That same night I get put on to this youtube video! So the first guy (Lyriciss) is freestyling...yet all I really notice is this young boy with a backpack. Who is he? Don't get me to lyin..cuz I don't know! When Lyriciss is done, this sick beat drops and then you hear, "AIN'T NONE OF YALL FUCKIN WIT OBII!" The mic is passed to my young boy and my question is answered.

The DMV's own Obii Say is one of the hottest in the area. At 17, he's spittin better than some of the rappers IN THE GAME ALREADY! I would call him a cutie...but then that would make me a COUGAR :o/...not ready for that title yet lol He's backed by The Brovas Grym, which consists of local producers Sinitus Tempo and Doc Battle.

Killer Notebook is the follow-up mixtape to The Surprise Tape. I haven't been able to listen to all of Killer Notebook, but the tracks I've heard are DOPE! He has soulful beats and a flow that weaves in and out of your speakers. You know..the type of music to make you zone out with your headphones on! There's a line in the title track "Killer Notebook" where he spits: I ain't got the table manners/ I'm a rap food savage/ reachin over plates/ I ain't got time for askin :o) Which to me, proves that he's a go getter and isnt afraid to go after what he wants (though that sounds like the same thing, yall feel me! lol)
But in my fav joint (so far) "Just a Chance" he comes correct with: Tell me/ How we go through 43 Presidents/ and more than 80%/ of our problems still exist/it don't make sense

Now tell me your boy is not speaking the truth? You can't cuz its SUNDAY and you'd be LYING! I'm sure there is more to come...this is only the beginning. As soon as I find out more I'll keep everyone updated. Until then...check this out!
http://www.obiisays.blogspot.com/ and follow him on Twitter (ObiiSay)

http://seriousity.blogspot.com/ - http://seriousity.blogspot.com/

Introducing Obii Say...a very talented MC straight out of the DMV....

This morning whilst checking my tweets, I peeped one by Obii Say, with some vids, being totally unaware of who he was decided to check, just out of curiousity...To my surprise though, Obii Say is Ill, and goes in on those lyrics, great artistry and with a different type of sound produced by Sinitus Tempo...without a doubt one to keep a close eye on in 2010

If you a regular reader of Word Is Bond....we've got you covered as we are keeping a close watch on Obii and Sinitus, and helped them push the great work. - http://thewordisbond.com

Over here, we’ve smuggled in young Obii Say to the SonicBids Lounge. (But since we all drink virtual cocktails, he’s welcome to sample as he wishes.) We’re proud to have him with us, communing with other hip-hop artists and checking out the ladies. But his story is amazing—and Obii, I hope I won’t embarrass you with my praise. Hailing from southeast Washington D.C., Obii Say was born Darrius Freeman, a talented youngster who started rhyming at the young age of 8 and eventually worked with some of his fellow high school students, trying to get their work heard. By the time he was a junior, he was noticed by DMV Producer Sinitus Tempo who saw his talent and helped him shape his sound and get fans to connect with him. Obii mixes old school with new school, producing rhymes for a new millennium and standing tall with the giants in his region. Obii has a bunch of new singles out this year (grindin’, lights, The Suprise Tape, K’iller Notebook, and Just A Chance). - http://www.skopemag.com

Track List
1.Intro (Mike Trampe)
2.Time
3.Stardust (Prod. The Official)
4.Doc's Remedy (Prod. Doc Battle)
5.Woman From a Star
6.I'm Outta Here (Prod. The Official)
7.The Big Homie A.B.
8.Rap Attack! (Prod. Sinitus Tempo)
9.He's a Runner (Prod. Sinitus Tempo)
10.The Jeffersons f. John Legend
11.The Big Homie Chaundon
12.I Know (Prod. Sinitus Tempo)
13.Streets Won't Let Me Chill
14.Home Movies
15.Throwing Up Peace (Prod. Sinitus Tempo)
16.A Song For a Good Day (Prod. Sinitus Tempo)
17.Above the Rim (Prod. The Official)
18.Lyriciss and Obii Say Freestyle @ Beat Clash
19.Ok I'm Finished - hiphopdx.com

Lets hear a tale about a day in the life of obii say " A day in my life is very simple. wake up watch television for a while, grab something to eat, and plan the rest of my day from there. I am not constantly engulfed in writing music, but some days just turn out to be music-oriented. I don,t do clubs and outings. In fact, i am very private at ties. locking my door and playing loud music on my headphones is an often occurrence, but i am still a ways from being considered aniti-social." one might think that obii say's yearn for privacy might be a hindrance to his performances, but they would be wrong about this young artist whose hopes for the future are to gain as much notoriety as is possible for an underground artist. Though he sometimes faces challenges of being "pre-judged" because of his young age, he does not allow these misconceptions to keep him from positioning himself as a positive image in order to motivate fans. Another obstacle obii say feels he faces is that of longevity in the record industry. He tells us, "it seems that longevity is a practice of the past and momentary success has taken over. many times, artists are discovered not through talent and skill, but more so who they know. This is slowly eating away at the foundation of music, hip hop in particular. My goal is not to "save hip hop" or "bring hip hop back", but to show people that you can make good music and still be true to your core values." Nonetheless, being so young in the industry has many advantages over older musicians who've been in the game for a while. - mf magazine spring issue

6. Obii Say & Sinitus Tempo – The Vinyl Proxy 1965 (FREE DOWNLOAD)

For two relatively unknowns throwing out a free album to the masses, The Vinyl Proxy 1965 is probably the surprise album of the year so far. And I don’t see this falling too much in the future neither. Emcee Obii Say teams up with fellow D.C. resident, Sinitus Tempo on the boards. They create an album that is deep in soulful, driving, and even somewhat psychedelic sounding beats and creative and on point rhymes. It’s deep for a couple of young cats, as they both sound like they have been doin’ they thing for awhile. The chemistry is also on point, which makes for a very cohesive album, something that you don’t find on free bandcamp offerings very often. What is even more rare, this album keeps getting better with time, so I can see this being on the iPod rotation for months to come. - Bloggerhouse.net

We haven't reviewed an album in a while, but after listening to this Vinyl Proxy EP (FREE)...I had to put the word out on this project.

First things first...personally I believe the cover doesn't do justice to the work inside this album...but then again, if you feel like me...believe that saying "Never judge an "album" by it's cover."

Sinitus Tempo

About:

Both Obii and Sinitus are 2 young brothers straight from the DMV...Sinitus handles the production & Obii the bars...together they form an explosive duo, full originality...reminding me a lot of a young up & coming Eric B & Rakim.

The Album:

The EP starts with an up tempo track "The Prologue" ft Alice Russel, setting you up perfectly for what's coming & gives you a quick glimpse, on what you about to journey through.

This is universal music though, so there's something for everyone, but the body of work is very consistent...and you can tell from the get go that the sound it's different form the norm...

Obii Say

Here's a few tracks that I thought I should highlight (all beats produced by Sinitus Tempo)...

Track #4: Obii Say - Prosperity

Only 4 tracks deep and you can start to see clearly the dynamic of this duo...Sinitus Tempo has great versatility on beat production and Obii Say is a deep lyricist.

Talking here about the ups and downs he had to go through to get to this point, he lays a complex history in a very simple manner, closing it by saying: "...don't call me a rapper, I am far past that I am an activist, you got that..."

Track #5: Obii Say - World Of The Lost

This was the first track I heard of Obii Say, about 2 months ago...and first time I heard it, I found it to be so original and fresh it brought a smile to my face....2 months gone past and still have it on replay...the beat is hard but the lyrics are deceivingly simple...and yet it works perfectly, kind of feel, that if Obii went in deep on this , it would have probably be lost as the beat is so deam addictive.

Track #11: Obii Say - Bandwagon-ers ft Lola Maxwell

The beat on this one is BANGING...hypnotised by the production in a big way, great work once again by Sinitus Tempo...and the theme of the Bandwagon-ers laid out by Obii Say it's classic. Shows clearly that they are trying to go in a different direction from most. And in todays hiphop scene, where everyone is a "bandwagon-er"...it's admirable. I salute them for this.

Track #12: Obii Say - Cant Help Ya ft Benji & Lyriciss

Another banger, on this one Obii it's joined by fellow DMV associates Benji & Lyriciss...Obii puts emphasis that as any good underground artists, he doesn't need anyone to make it happen...through hard grind and sheer talent, it will eventually happen...

There's more tracks that I really dig, but for the sake of keeping the review short...I'll leave it at 4....download the FREE EP....and listen to the rest whenever convenient.

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Closing comments:

Personally we truly believe that both Obii Say & Sinitus Tempo, are going to make it big, sooner or later, they have the drive and talent...and as stated on the album they really don't need anyone else do to it...they have the production and lyrics, they are on par on talent, and complement each other greatly....with a good publisher, Obii & Sinitus will go places.

This is the second EP, that Sinitus & Obii have released...make sure you check the previous work over at Charon Music Group...I've heard both, and although I enjoyed the first one it's easy to see that both artist have progressed leaps and bounds since.

We'll keep an eye for you all on both Obii and Sinitus for all future updates, but make sure you support them by downloading the FREE Ep, and enjoying the music.

If you have twitter follow them on twitter too..they are cool humble brothers. - www.thewordisbond.com

This album is the product of an artists growth. I say that because each album he releases is that much better than the previous. I’ve been following Obii Say’s music since I found his The secret Tape and had that shit on blast for a minute. Couldn’t turn it off, such an original sound and the production complimented the lyricist perfectly. Sinitus Tempo Obii Say’s producer killed it on this album with a hip-hop meets soul meets jazz fusion. It’s so fresh and unique you cant help but hit replay, these two dudes were meant to work together and are most definitely gonna blow up and blow up FAST! In the first week of release The Vinyl proxy crashed website with over 10,000 downloads. This humble 17-year-old highschool kid from D.C EXPLODES onto the scene climbing the charts of DMV unplugged and will be here for a while. These dudes are hungry and have the talent to progress, I predict colabs with the likes of Lupe, Kanye and Wale in the future. Jus Sayin…

Keep an eye out for these two because you dont want to miss this show when these two role through your city. - http://themorningdose.wordpress.com

Trav's Take - Wow.....did I mention wow? This is why I still wade through high volumes of emails, to find that one diamond in the ruff. One emcee, one producer, Obii Say & Sinitus Tempo. Both of them are damn good at what they do. The result is one cohesive, no filler, play-with-fast-forward-button-broke, dope from start to finish project. This is one of the better projects to come across my email account in sometime. Admittedly, it made it past the first screening process I have. The cover doesn't really do it any justice, but the description got me to play the two tracks attached, "World of Lost," and "Prosperity". They were dope enough that I downloaded the project. I unzipped it with the intention to listen to it, only for it to sit idle for a few days. I finally got around to playing it, and was intrigued right off the bat. Admittedly, it's a project that is better enjoyed as a whole. I kept playing songs, thinking, "yeah that's dope," then another, thinking it was dope, but after it was all done, I wanted to play it again. That doesn't happen for me a lot anymore. The emcee, Obii Say, does take a little getting used to, as he kind has that mumbled delivery with a higher tone (think a Q-Tip), but once you do get used to him, you appreciate him as an integral part of the music, and he's only 17.... These two DC cats should be up and comers for years to come, for those of us appreciate dope beats and lyrics. - http://www.wydublog.com