DJ Obi :: Hearos 4 Hire :: Think Green Records
as reviewed by Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania
My uncle once told me something when I forgot to help him paint the house: "With great power comes great possibility." No, erm, great ability. Hang on, wrong delivery... Oh shit, responsibility! I don't know, he said a lot of things. Then he died. Some tosser shot him for his car, even though it was butt ugly. Anyway, I avenged his ass and hunted down the robber tosser bad-haircutness. Although I realised years later it was the wrong bloke. Lawsuit! I guess I'll be out of the superhero game for a while. Now, if only there were a motley crew of heroes for hire...
Well, you are all in luck - I know just the guy, DJ Obi. Actually he has some friends out in Californ-I-A. And he brought them altogether on this pretty solid mixtape. Plus, this mixtape is actually mixed - miracle! Maybe it isn't mixed to any great degree but bless his cotton socks, at least DJ Obi tries. The musical beat hijacking is really rather good too, with a generally excellent choice in instrumentals: Lil Kim's Kanye-helmed "I Came Back For You" which segues into Biggie's legendary "Who Shot Ya." As a musical experience it is most pleasing, and it is nice to hear a DJ take care in choosing the right stuff for his MC's to spit over.
Speaking of the MC's, there are quite a few of them, and they are generally all of similar abilities, even if they specialize in completely different areas. You have Kaliban, who likes to drop battle lyrics and punchlines; Obvious has a smoother, more accessible flow; Big Swish is very solid and confident; Avatar is basically a lunatic escaped from a nearby asylum who somehow manages to rap on point with such bizarre delivery that you can't help but like him (think Murdoch from the A-Team). Last, but definitely not least, is Meyer Wolfsheim - this guy has personality to burn, and even if some of his rapping is questionable at times, he has a psychotic and unique quality, which will leave me unable to forget him. Truly, he is a strange fruit, but has character by the bucketload - and that counts for so much.
All in all, this is a promising mixtape put together nicely enough by Obi that it warrants a potential purchase. It isn't going to save the rap game, or the West Coast, but it is an indicator that there are interesting cats in the City of Angels. They also happen to be raw as hell, and aren't going to win any awards for lyricism - but they seem to be at the beginning of their journey, rather than experienced rappers that will never improve, so any mistakes they make are forgivable. Plus, hey, it is a mixtape, not an album. And I will never forget Meyer Wolfsheim til the day I die. These guys could eventually be the heroes of Cali, and good luck to them.
Music Vibes: 8 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
Originally posted: March 25, 2008
source: www.RapReviews.com
Dj Obi
Hearos 4 Hire Mixtape, Vol. 1
(Think Green)
By Kevin Wierzbicki
“Put on them hard hats, because it’s about to get dangerous, very dangerous.” Those words come from Avatar on the intro to this mix, “Waking up the Dead,” a sublime rhyme that also features commentary from Obvious, Meyer Wolfsheim, Big Swish and Kaliban; a.k.a. Hearos 4 Hire.
Avatar isn’t issuing a warning of violence per se; on the contrary, he’s saying that it’s not easy to straighten shit out in this world. Thus we have Hearos 4 Hire, presenting themselves here as urban pied pipers ready to do the job.
“Operation Red Eye” is typically filled with expletives but there’s also a touch of nerdiness when Kaliban rhymes Dixie Chicks with Pixie Sticks. These neo Wu-Tangers pass the mic around for the first 10 songs or so then wrap things up with some solo joints; Avatar spits on “A Man Possessed,” Obvious handles “It Don’t Stop” and Big Swish adds drama to “What He Claims” by using an ominous sounding bit of string section.
DJ Obi appears on two songs including “Sewaside” with Kaliban; otherwise he slyly inserts plugs for the record label and the group here and there.
Grade: B
Hearos 4 Hire Mixtape, Vol. 1 is currently available.
DJ Obi: Hearos 4 Hire Mixtape Vol.1
Various Artists
[Think Green]
hip hop
Obi’s unveiling of Californian hardcore may share the same name as a Jeru the Damaja album, but his is a West Coast council of battle-hardened emcees. Despite the crammed roll call, each recruit is distinctive in their gruffness when it’s their turn to blast up the place. Making sizeable impressions are the impressive, shit-kicking hunger of Kaliban, and Obvious, who pays lip service to Kanye’s ‘All Falls Down’ on ‘Kool-Aid Money’ before quashing playtime with ‘It Don’t Stop’. Then there’s the smoking jacket delivery of the individual Meyer Wolfsheim. Rolling verbs deliberately around his jowls means he can make time to spar with the Pop Idol judges over the bandy strings of ‘The Devil’s Fiddler’. No posse cut jumping on one another here - Obi is operating the mic booth like a bouncer on the door of a packed club. Strictly one in, one out, with all instructed to just grab the mic and go. Familiar freestyle backdrops - Biggie’s ‘Who Shot Ya’, Timbaland’s ‘Indian Flute’ – are teamed with underground heaters and production from Obi and Oddio. Matters are thus kept on a stomping, bumping front foot, letting its backpack swing and refusing to conceal a partialness to Southern-themed sounds. There’s the Def Jux-esque ‘THG Music’, the Psycho+Logical-styled ‘Sewaside’, and ‘What He Claims’ striking fear into scaredy cats, with strings egging on Big Swish’s brute force. Obi is more of a blends man in the mixtape game, preferring crossfader work over using gunshots as glue. For back-to-basics, head-knocking hip-hop from the City of Angels, dial H for ‘Hearos’ and up that amp.
4.5/7
REVIEW BY LOSTATSEA.NET
Hearos 4 Hire is a new mixtape from LA-based DJ Obi, and it's a surprisingly good entrant into the world of West Coast underground. A far cry from the excellent if esoteric freestyles of Project Blowed and their ilk, Obi, Kaliban, Meyer Wolfsheim, Big Swish, and the rest of the crew have created an edgy world of sinister rhymes and fascinatingly banging beats, keeping the boom-bap while experimenting with various styles. This is LA hip-hop for people who think they don't like LA hip-hop.
Props to Kelcey for doing some good and rockin his Think Green Records t-shirt in the process.
Kelcey Murakami collects previously owned cell phones as part of the Cell Phones for Soldiers program at the Handle With Care Packaging Store on Wilshire Blvd. The program provides calling cards to soldiers overseas to stay in touch with family. Click on the pic to visit the Santa Monica Daily Press web site. The picture is on the front page and the story is continued on page 11.
URB MAGAZINE REVIEW - 2004
