Arquiteko Verbal is a bilingual Los Angeles based hip hop artist who mixes complex rhyme schemes with refreshing production to take his listeners on a trip into his mind on every track. I recently got the chance to listen to his latest body of work, “The Feature Presentation”. This album sounds like it was made for vinyl! I’ll gladly say off the bat that this is filled with 11 super cool tracks, all produced by Orchestrated Sounds, and some very carefully curated features to make it all come together.
“Who got the power” was a clear stand out for me. Orchestrated Sounds did an amazing job on the production and Arquitekto brought the bars and the flows, in abundance. Lyrically this is a thought provoking track as Arquitekto takes us through his thoughts on the political state of the world in recent years. This is track is just one example of his versatility and what I really love is that he manages to do this without being boring or corny.
“Carpool” is a vibe. The production places you right in the middle of a sunny day in California. Each verse quite literally slides in, adding a new level of depth to the song as Cuartesmatic and ASP add their diverse styles to the mix. This is a very cool track and a really good example of Arquitekto’s natural gift of being able to carefully select artists who are not only talented, but will also add genuine value to the song that they appear on.
“Hamij” is a jam. Jazzy samples, boombap drums, slick flows, a catchy hook and a dope feature from Murderdatt. Lyrically the song pays homage to some of hip hop’s greats, no doubt the artists who inspired both of these songwriters. This song is clever and gets you instantly bopping your head.
In closing, I really enjoyed this project and if you are into authentic, honest and provocative west coast hip hop, then this is for you too. If you are bilingual and understand spanish, then I’ve also been told that this tape features some hard hitting spanish bars. Unfortunately my Spanish isn’t so good anymore, but regardless, this is a great project. Other noteable tracks were “Take Cover” featuring Choize Areef and M.I.E and “Love Hangover” featuring Francisco Baites. Go follow Arquitekto Verbal on Instagram: @arquitekto_verbal
Score: 7/10
The post Arquitekto Verbal – “The Feature Presentation” (Album Review) first appeared on UndergroundHipHopBlog.
Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com
