14KT
Should you choose to participate in A Friendly Game of 14KT, you’re immediately immersed in playfulness, literal and figurative, starting with the delivery: the project’s first seven tracks are teasingly offered for free, and the latter half, for a price. That's just an intro to the childlike elements – vivid imagery, randomness, spontaneity, colors, and game playing--this project is imbued with.
Strong key progression draws the listener into “Pick Up Sticks,” which fittingly features a child’s “story of Jesus” that involves God requesting Jesus pick up his toys. The percussion mirrors the sound of pick-up sticks, and accompanied by hi-hats, bass, and keys, making this a very pleasurable introduction. A sudden track change brings the listener to the body-shaker, “It Ain’t Really That Funny (Janet Flip)”: 14KT’s flip of Jackson’s “Funny How Time Flies,” which transforms the classically sultry tune into a lively up-tempo danceable R&B and hip-hop head-nodder with some electronic accents. “CNColors” and “Lessons from IX Lives,” though detached chronologically, work cooperatively in exploring the sensation of sound-color synesthesia, in which people associate colors with music. 14KT builds upon this notion, employing in the former track an extended high melody over the pulsating drums and cascading chords. The keys on the latter are reminiscent of an organ and mix well with the classic hip-hop rhythm and intricate base line.
A defining element of this project is its raw approach. Whether the enticing cuts and loops of “Blindsided,” the mellow-electro toned break beat flip “Another Age,” The hi-hat driven “Grainy Guitar,” the A Tribe Called Quest-channeled “Where Else?” or the synth-infused “Rain Delay,” which features a veiling and unveiling of layers to the original sample, this project is a kaleidoscope of energetic streams of consciousness. The Dilla-inspired “As We (Turn It Up)” is an up-tempo display of intricate scale patterns, interwoven with heavy drums and cymbals. The first half is a serious head-banger, while the second half ‘s slow tempo makes it more calming, intangible, and blithe. 14KT rounds out the project with the percussion-rich, “Width,” featuring vocals from Tony Ozier, who also offers bass.
A Friendly Game of 14KT showcases music exploration at a candid level, and makes us privy to some endearing moments, both musically and verbally: “One 4 Black” remains an instrumental track, though the Black Milk-mimicked remix of 14KT’s “Black N Gold” (off of Nowalataz) was not meant to be so. The bass-heavy remix was to include lyrics from Black Milk, but 14KT admits in his liner notes that this, among other tracks on the project, was not completed as intended, mainly because he was busy and forgot to reach out to the emcee. The result feels comparable to a child not finishing his homework, but with a really interesting story about why that is so.
In its final finished form, the album is a testament to free-spirited experimentation, and nothing is over-produced or examined too heavily. Speaking on this project as a whole 14KT said, “One day, I woke up and decided I wanted to make a project. I took a handful of arbitrary beats and put them in a folder.” From this, the listener gains the benefit of various influences and an unmethodical approach to a project that still sounds cohesive, with the assistance of good-humored samples reinforcing the interconnected game-like quality, and a childlike ingenuity.
- Sandra Manzanares
