Posted on 09/23/2009
Straight out of the Northeast comes The Truth For The Youth, the debut album from the bold and brash Solo for Dolo, whose thirst for success is clearly evident throughout this 10-track player. On this recording, the 22-year-old New Jersey native discusses his upbringing and spits raw rhymes about the lack of overall talent in hip-hop, among other topics. Simply put, Solo’s album is less about ideas and more about displaying his aggressive lyrical cadence. He comes off cocky and slightly arrogant, yet passionate and honest. While Solo shows some promise on The Truth for the Youth, it’s a little too raw to push him into the limelight, so his quest for dominance continues.

The Truth For The Youth is a very slight reminder of early-1990s hip-hop, when lyricists grabbed microphones to lyrically set them ablaze. While topics were broached on their songs, the main objective was to leave no doubt about their ability. To that end, Solo is successful, as he proves he can hold his own. Inconsistent production eventually holds him back, though. Some songs have the nod factor to make his lyrics resonate, while others simply don’t do him enough justice.

His producers do a respectable job overall, but they ought to dig for more creative samples on the next outing. For instance, “Glass House Theory,” where Solo analyzes how his upbringing has molded his adulthood, uses the same sample that Diamond D chopped for The Fugees’ “The Score.” The very next song, “Just Be,” which is also about his childhood, boasts the same Al Green sample that Kanye West used for Talib Kweli’s “Good To You.” There are some definite highlights on this record, especially the thoughtful “Wake Up,” which is backed by a sample of KRS-ONE’s legendary call-to-arms at the beginning of Edutainment’s “Blackman In Effect.” On this song, Solo tells the stories of an 18-year-old teenage girl struggling with pregnancy, a man who has unprotected sex and discovers he might have a sexually-transmitted disease, and another girl who births a daughter at 19 and is unclear of who is the father. “Black September,” with its soulful piano loop, is a good backdrop for Solo to reflect on what’s next in his young career.

The Truth for the Youth is hard-edged and spit-fire. Solo for Dolo raps with a chip on his shoulder, so much so that he said — playfully or not — on “You Can’t Say This On Demo Tapes” that he would battle Ghostface Killah, the legendary swordsman from the Wu-Tang Clan. While Solo’s project is a straightforward, no-frills approach to hip-hop, it suffers from a lack of polish. His rhyming ability grabs your attention, but the production doesn’t hold it.

-Marcus Moore