Review: Lastman

lastm
Lastman
“Repatriation Sound”
(Asterisk Recordings)

The West Coast can boast of diversity, if nothing else.  You got Gangsta’s with tales of ghetto reality, B-Boy Battle Rappers with tales of them eating MC’s alive, Club-play Seekers with tales of booty shakin’ and love makin’, and you got this: Repatriation Sound.  This 12″ single is chock full of conscious lyrics, and Rasta spirituality. But it’s not Reggae!  The new age of Rastafarians finds the message available in more outlets than just the Jamaican record store today.  Lastman is proof that you don’t have to rhyme about the same old things.

Side A: “Changes” is a collaboration with Zaire Black (emmoworks), and is overflowing with lyrics of self-realization and introspection.  “The Truth” is just that: an interpretation of history, and the bible, according to the Rastafarian truth, which puts Haile Selassie I as the Christ returned. Side B: “Holdin’ Me” is a smooth track, laced with Lastman’s spiritual battle with Babylon’s routine of holding back those who push forward.  “Repatriation Sound” touches on Africa as the center of creation, and the turmoils that accompany the apocalypse, which according to Lastman, we live in today.

“Sound System” is the dubby outro, which gives you a chance to breathe after the heavy message of this 5-song vinyl single. The beats are smooth, laid back, jazzy rhythms, produced mostly in part by West Coast Hip-Hop mogul DJ Drez, along with TreSevn, and TJ Hall.  Positivity is the bottom line in this recording, which many will agree, is a breath of fresh air in these days and times.  Be it just a single, “Repatriation Sound” left me in a stage of waiting till the full length one day crosses my path.