.Sum and Belief

Sum and Belief Are the Lone Wolf

Combining imaginative, poetic storytelling with distinctive and
melodic production, Sum and Belief unites to craft nine tracks that
push underground hip-hop to the doorstep of the blues.

Sum and Belief Are the Lone Wolf, the duo’s first
collaborative album, is laced with a sense of nostalgia, in both words
and music. With a style that takes a little from Sum’s Southern roots
and a little from Belief’s Los Angeles beginnings, The Lone Wolf
ends up sounding like what hip-hop might have been if it had existed in
the 1950s and 1960s, bumping up against R&B and the early soul of
Motown.

Belief — who has produced tracks for high-school classmate
Murs and Talib Kweli — blends acoustic guitar, piano, banjo, and
harmonica into his beats, finding places where the unexpected works
perfectly. Reaching back into his North Carolina adolescence for
stories and images, Sum is one of the few MCs who seeks and has truly
earned the moniker “songwriter.”

On “Puddinhead,” Sum name-checks Tom Waits and Curtis Mayfield,
finding his inspiration in the sort of integrity that sneers at chasing
money in a quest to create timeless music. “Next September” is a
continuation on Sum’s take on a crumbling relationship from his 2006 LP
The Lil Folk. The update adds horns to the gritty beats of
“September,” the duo’s first song together, and its tale of staring
down the mistakes of coming-of-age irresponsibility.

The Lone Wolf is seamless — if a little short at thirty
minutes — and displays an encouraging disregard for any sort of
boundaries on what sounds or lyrics can be considered hip-hop. (Worker
B Records)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

East Bay Express E-edition East Bay Express E-edition
19,045FansLike
14,611FollowersFollow
61,790FollowersFollow
spot_img