Posted on 04/24/2008
"'Lyricism don't sell know more' that's what they say, but I just ignore it." Braille, an emcee from Portland, Oregon knows a thing or two about lyricism. The IV Edition, is the title of his 4th studio release. The Lightheaded emcee combines with some of independent hip-hop's biggest producers and the result is a solid outing.

The CD starts off energetically with a track titled "Beautiful Humanity" where Braille states his desire to continue his mission of artistic development despite the recent loss of his father. The track starts off rather simply with little but hard drums, and slowly builds up fellow Lightheaded alum Ohmega Watts handling production. It's evident from that first beat that the production is going to be something special, and I have to say the beats are the highlight of this CD. With guest production from Ohmega Watts (as previously stated), Marco Polo, 88 Keys, OhNo, S1, J-Zone & others. With all the various producers featured on this album, each song has a different feel ranging from serene to energetic.

What Braille does well as an emcee is match his delivery to the beats. Since he has the ability to go from instrospection to enthusiasm, he can flip his styles to make this CD work. Maintaining a clear voice is another notch to Braille's style that helps emphasize his writing. His writing touches on many themes, all of which have a very positive outlook. Topics on The IV Edition include: his wife (on "Main Squeeze" which the hook must be inspired by the late James Brown whom Braille toured with) the birth and loss of a child (on "Many Stories") and spirituality (on "Blessed Man".)

The stand-out track (at least in this reviewer's opinion) is "The IV." which coincidentally is the first single for this release. Braille flows well over the orchestra provided by Marco Polo and Rob Swift fills in the gaps with some scratching including a cut from Nas' classic "Nas is Like." The combination is impressive and evidence of one emcees drive. -Nick McClure