Doseone

G is for Deep is the latest solo album from prolific avant-guardian Doseone. Though he's kept busy with tons of other side projects (most recently 13 & God's Own Your Ghost) this is his first studio solo project since 2007. Fans will recognize the style hes crafted for the past 15 or so years but G is distinctly original.

Dose has always been one to experiment with many realms of music but it's always been tethered to the breakbeat instrumentation of hip hop. That being said, G is for Deep feels like a departure. As with most Dose releases, it imparts a love it or leave it aura. His usual signatures, ie unusual rhyme patterns delivered via nasal-y narration are still in place but the dance-inspired production makes the album a bit more palletable to new fans. This release is by far more polished than previous offerings and is guaranteed to widen his franchise.

"Last Life" is my favorite track on the album and may be the crossover cut that he's clearly seeking. The beat itself is all synthpop with nice, crunchy drums. It's bound to draw comparisons to chillwave and the sing-songy nature of the vocals will likely get his name all over the blogs (oh wait. It already has).

Lyrically, Dose is still abstract as hell. Dropping lines like “The only dance I know is debt” which is the first line on the album to "Last Life's" chorus "In the former life, were you the committed type?" Admittedly there are times when it feels like he's being weird and pretentious just to be weird and pretentious but what's wrong with being intelligent on accident? It all makes sense when you realize the creative process to the record was as follows; drink tons of whiskey, go through a notebook of uncollected thoughts and try to create a song. That's hardly an accident.

-Nick McClure