Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
by Open Mike Eagle

Clocking in at just before the 40 minutes mark, it simply flies by and leaves you thirsty for more. The production may not sound spectacular at first listen , but it's so easy on the ear, always finding the balance between dreamy, carefree, intense and depressive. The lyrics are what makes this album stand out. It tells some realistic and relatable stories - I use the term "relatable" not in the sense that I have any similar experience, but the way he presents it makes the listener empathise with the character. Personal enough to contain the necessary drama/emotional attachment, but at the same time abstract enough to be used as a vehicle to provide some socio-political commentary. The main theme of the album is the so called "housing project" - I guess the album cover kinda betrays it - ("We live in a space that should have never existed We’re used to the taste of a human in space We ruined the room only a few could replace it And Doyle’s is closed I'm avoiding my nose It smells like if you imagined you boiled a rose And the oven is on and the coil’s exposed And we pulling the door Like we did it before And now we’re trying to deal with heat that we shouldn't absorb"), which proves to be an interesting enough concept to carry the whole album. The key is that he doesn't only focus on the stories themselves, but also on the people behind them and how they are affected by the various incidents that take place. You can find many one or two liners that show his mental state ("I ran hard, my footprints covered the coast I be running through walls cause I'm buffer than most", or "My favorite phrase is "so what?" I'm stone-cut, I'm bad to the bone, no need to blow up Calm before the storm or something I ain't cried since '94 or something", or "When the king is a garbage person I might wanna lay down and die Power down all my darkest urges Keep my personal crown up high"). The rapping forms a nice contrast with the lyrics, it feels as if he tries to keep some distance from what he's talking about, he doesn't want to get sentimentally involved, but at some points he ends up losing control and has an emotional outburst (for example there is one in Happy Wasteland Day). The highlight of the album has to be Daydreaming In The Projects ("So don't be mad at me I used to breathe asthmatically No strategy for whenever brain Gets going, counting the stars through the growing pains Shoulder blame Foot the bill, take a sugar pill Over the counter drugs, the ones niggas couldn't feel Like the wooden wheel Ben switched the island with"), I could listen to it on repeat all day long - though I could say the exact same thing for at least 3 more tracks.

From LebowskiRams 02/10/2020 22:46 | #247651

Wow. This is fantastic.

Great lyricism and equally great abstract beats.

Album of the year IMO. Mike always has an interesting perspective and this time on a subject that nobody talks about. Best track: Brick Body Complex.

This album is on another level. Holy shit!!!

From HoldenM 11/21/2017 06:24 | #201742

A little lacking in dynamics, but still enjoyable.

A serious OME album was a little unexpected but it’s done very well! The production is mellow but still interesting and the lyrical content is A+. Favorite track is Happy Wasteland Day.