Awol One

Awol One is like the Johnny Cash of hip-hop. When you listen to him you're likely to feel an overwhelming sense of futility for life, delivered with some very witty lyricism populated by mutated freaks and losers in a gruff sing-song style over some creative head-nodding beats. Although producer Mike Nardone concocted good beats for all three songs, it all comes together best on "Sleepin' All Day." There is only one lapse during the whole song that actually pulls the momentum down for a moment, but when it kicks back in it hits so hard that you even begin to like the lapse. "Sleepin' For Days" should be used in music classes to demonstrate how to put together a classic song. Of the other two songs, "Skye" is a spiritual downer while "NME" is a spirited posse cut featuring Kool Keith and OMD's 2Mex. Both are good songs. A must own single, NME has solidified Awol One at the very top of my list of favourite MCs.