Down The Rabbit
Hole
By
4DEE
Cardiff emcee/producer 4Dee is back with his latest release,
Down The Rabbit Hole, on his own Veteran Records imprint. I have
featured his releases a couple of times on the blog, first with the album
‘Shots Fired’ and with the singles 40 Years and The WOW Signal. Released at the
end of March this year, this is a six track EP that promises some straight up
Hip Hop combined with 4Dee’s penchant for not shying away from controversial
and maybe a little esoteric subject matter.
So, let’s not hang around here and dive straight Down The
Rabbit Hole…
We dive straight into it with Microphone Savage, where
a heavy pounding boom bap beat provides the backdrop. In fact, this hits so
heavy, it brings enough energy to vibrate every bone in your body. Like so kind
of modern-day pied piper, 4Dee uses slick lyricism and a vocal tone infused
with more than enough assertiveness, to create a vibe that grips you and sends
you down the rabbit hole before you know what’s happening. Spinning lines on
why he is savage on the mic, you forget what is going on beyond that sound and
you become lost in the Hip Hop music. Now that you are well on your way into
the music, drums hit with some nerve shedding organ notes and a hint of guitar
too, its time for some Verbal Shadow Boxing. Produced by Acko and
featuring DJ Jaffa on the cut, this one ramps up the energy levels, drawing you
deeper into the music. 4Dee’s flow and insane lyrical fury takes hold of your
awareness and spins you out of control as he pummels your mind with hit after
hit of verbal intensity, punching a hole between one universe and the next.
With your mind reeling from the intensity, things take a sudden U-turn with Strike
Lightning and Thunder. The beat is still heavy but more subdued with a
chilled acoustic guitar vibe. Delisha joins 4Dee to take you on a trip that
takes you deep into the rabbit hole as they look at a post pandemic country
where negativity and despair are the new norms; this is a place where
conspiracies and control of the masses abound, a dark place, reflecting what
just might be going on beyond the doors, walls and deep in the halls of
government. Believe it or not this is where the rabbit hole takes you and it is
only some brief moments of soulful vocals on the bridge that give you a glimpse
of a more positive future.
Datrilshit sees a return to that pounding boom bap
sound where the drumbeat takes the forefront, raising the energy levels once
more as DJ Jaffa brings the cuts once more, cutting deep into your soul. Here,
we find 4Dee bringing the one thing we all love about Hip Hop, that real shit.
It’s all about what makes an emcee who they are, the lyrics, the flows, and
their individuality; alongside that is their ability bring the kind of music
that makes the crowd go crazy, that’s it, plain and simple. Before you realise
it, you’re in the realms of the penultimate track, wondering what’s next and
where you might end up. DJ Jaffa is back on the cut once more as Mind Over
Matter hits with heavy drums and eerie keys. The beat has you looking this
way and that while 4Dee spins bars and verses around one simple message that
sinks deep into your awareness subliminally. That message is that you are the
architect of your own destiny, you are the one who can make your dreams become
reality, you just have to keep those dreams in the forefront of your mind and
don’t lose sight of what is most important. Do that, and the only thing that is
impossible, is that anything is impossible! The final track drops with a
realisation that you’re not lost in the rabbit hole at all, you’re just waking
up to the truth of reality. It is the heavy guitar vibes and sparse drums of
Acko’s production on Putting In Work that help bring that realisation to
life by creating a sound that tightens the frayed nerves and, with the help of
DJ Jaffa on the cut, awakens you, bringing you back into the room. 4Dee spits
the kind of lyrics that bring focus to your fogged mind. In fact, he continues
to allude to message from the previous track, with more vigour, he tells you
that by putting in the work, you make yourself who you are, you craft yourself
into the true expression of the self.
Down The Rabbit Hole takes you on a journey that
might seem a lot longer than it is. Within those six tracks and Twenty-Two
minutes 4Dee takes you places and opens your mind to thoughts you might never
have conceived of had you not exposed yourself to this EP. The Rabbit Hole is a
place where you can cast out any thoughts of what you thought reality was. Here
nothing is taboo and all the things you thought were just conspiracy theories
or someone’s tainted view of the world, now seem to be far more plausible.
There is some great work here that keeps you guessing as to
exactly what you’re listening to, in terms of its message, and you can easily
just enjoy the whole experience without thinking too much but, then if, like
me, you want to give it the time, it can take you to different ways of seeing
the world around you and that’s the power of the music and the words contained
within.
The production on Down The Rabbit Hole is top notch
from both 4Dee and Acko, bringing you Hip Hop vibes that you can really feel
the energy of, and also help to bend and merge reality at the same time, which
is all ably assisted by the cuts from DJ Jaffa, for me these cuts don’t just
scream Hip Hop on this one but, really give that edge to the tweaking of
reality. I also have to give props to Delisha who I have not heard before but,
who makes a great appearance here with both her rap skills and those soulful
sung elements too.
4Dee shows us, once more, that he really is a solid emcee by
switching flows and displaying a range of lyricism that has he can switch from
being lyrically fun to suddenly being far more complex and intellectual. I also
like the fact that he is not afraid to tackle those esoteric subjects and be
completely open and honest about his thoughts on the world around him.
For me it’s a no brainer to recommend this one to you, so if
you’ve not heard it already, I suggest you give it a listen as soon as
possible.
Time for me to be out,
See ya next time.
Steve.
LINKS
Get the EP on Bandcamp Here:
https://4dee1.bandcamp.com/album/down-the-rabbit-hole
Streaming Links and more for the EP Here:
https://songwhip.com/4dee/down-the-rabbit-hole
Veteran Records Website:
4Dee on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mr4deee/
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