*****3rd review with Mike T (@mike_t_bvnm)
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Chris: Let’s first discuss how we got here. You wanted to review another album but you weren’t sure what album. You asked me to come up with a list of 7 albums. You then narrowed it down to 3 and chose an album from those final 3 based the album cover alone. You ended up choosing MF Grimm’s “The Downfall of Ibliys: A Ghetto Opera.” Can you explain what drew you to “The Downfall of Ibliys”?
Mike: What drew me to this album was the visual representation of the title to the album art. I wanted to choose an album for us to listen to that I had no idea what the album sounded like or anything. I thought it would be a fun way to choose an album rather than just a conventional "how about this one?". Plus "A Ghetto Opera" that in itself is just an intriguing title. Plus, little did I know that the album or the artist I picked would offer a little more than just an album to listen to. You let me know he had written a graphic novel. So that added a cool little bonus for this review.
Chris: Well, I was really excited when you chose it! MF Grimm is not a name you hear a lot of people mention and a lot of times you’ll wonder, why not?
Anyway, I’m sure you gathered from listening to the album that Ibliys is an alias of Satan’s and as you know, Satan is a fallen angel. On this album Grimm likens himself to Ibliys, in that they had a similar downfall. Ibliys from heaven and Grimm from a solid upbringing. On “The Downfall of Ibliys” Grimm details his demise but to me, it’s not in a way that glorifies what he did but rather he’s taking ownership of the things he did. Was that the impression he left on you? And what is your opinion on rappers who like to, for lack of a better way of saying it, confess their crimes on record?
Mike: I can agree with you on this that the story he is telling isn't a glorification of his actions, but a spoken ownership of what he's down throughout his life. Going from child actor on Sesame Street to Hustling weed in a wheelchair on the daily. You get the feeling he understood what he did as a man, and that is why it feels like an announcement of ownership of his actions. If you read the book there's a point early on in the story where he mentions he knows what's bad, but it was fun, and felt good. Now in regards to rappers who confess their crimes on record. I think a lot of the time it feels like they are trying to gain what people today refer to as Clout. But then again not many rappers nowadays even come close to the level of "gangster" that rappers from MF Grimm's era did.
Chris: Let’s talk about the song “Life and Death.” In it, Grimm talks about his struggle with doing right and the seductiveness of the excitement of doing wrong. He refers to both Life and Death as “her” as if they are two women competing for his love and attention. Life being the girl you want to take home to introduce her to your folks and Death, the girl you and everyone knows is wrong for you but you still mess with her. What did you think of the song “Life and Death” and its message?
Mike: This song was one I had to listen to a few more times once you asked me this question. You made me look into this deeper than the original impression it gave me. I liked how you described each. "Life" is the girl you want to bring home to your folks, but "Death" she's the one that brings excitement to your life, but at a toxic cost. After listening to the song a few more times it makes you think. How bad is going down a straight path? You flirt, build a pathway with "Life", and it's great. It brings joy, success, and fulfillment. Yet it misses that excitement of spontaneity. Then "Death" comes into your life, and in Grimm's words who you meet "through her cousin sleep" things change. I think this song is his way of saying "look kids this is what happens when you choose the wrong relationship" because even though he knew it was a bad relationship to get into he just didn't listen.
Chris: It’s a very relatable song, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. We all have to deal with that expectation of doing the right thing instead of pursuing things that are more pleasurable even if they
are more harmful.
MF Grimm – “Life and Death”
Chris: The majority of the production on the album was handled by MF Doom under his alias Metal Fingers. When you’re going to have a conversation about MF Grimm it is almost going to include Doom and vice versa. What did you think about the production on the album and the tracks (“Foolish” and “Voice Pt. 1” featuring MF Doom?
Mike: I think the production of this album, and the songs I felt embodied that East Coast sound. Like Wu-Tang. MF Grimm's album had that raw sound to all of it. Look at the intro of "Voice Pt. 1" when the track starts it legit sounds like some one is just singing a song they like in their car. That's the feeling this album gave me while listening to it. I think that is one thing this album really did well with is the production. Because it gives the listener that sense of this was recorded in a small venue somewhere in a hidden part of Brooklyn. I personally feel that if you are a true Hip Hop head. Especially the underground hip hop scene this is the sound you love. The sound that makes these artist who they are. I like it because its authentic, but in the end its not my favorite. Without doing these reviews with you I wouldn't have learned about this though. So with that I am Team West Coast haha. But I'm glad I've learned what I have from these. It's been a fun experience, and I'm looking forward to the next review.
MF Grimm & MF Doom - "I Hear Voices Part 0 & 1"
Chris: As part of this review, we both read MF Grimm’s comic “Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm”. What did you think of it? Did it change the way you listened to the album?
Mike: I really liked the book, and I am not a big reader. Granted it was a graphic novel, but still I usually don't enjoy reading that much. This was a cool bonus for this review when you mentioned he had done a book. I enjoyed how it went through his life from the beginning. From hanging out with Big Bird, to getting out of prison. There were a few things that the book informed me that you wouldn't have learned from the album in my position. Like him getting involved with Death Row Records. Performing with Tupac, Snoop, and a handful of other artists. So, it was really cool to learn more about the person behind the album itself, and get a little bit of a visual adaptation of what I was listening to. Music like a book can paint a picture for your mind. Especially Hip Hop artists like Grimm. Because their music isn't just a catchy hook. It's a story. It made me want to listen to the album again and try and see where in the book the song is talking about. It didn't exactly work like that haha, but it was fun to see the progression of Grimm's life from album to book.
Chris: Grimm is well known for his dope features and for his prowess as a ghostwriter. When I think of Grimm, one of the first tracks that comes to mind is the song he did with Kool G, “Take ‘Em To War”. Are there any tracks on “The Downfall of Ibliys” that stand out to you for their lyrical content?
Mike: The first song that comes to mind for lyrical content immediately is "Teach the Babies". This song comes to mind because of how he twists the everyday ABC's. It might not be the most crazy lyrically driven song on the album, but a song that sticks out for lyrical content this song was the first thing i thought of. Just because honestly, it's a creative twist to something pretty basic.
MF Grimm - "Teach the Babies"
Chris: What were some of your favorite tracks?
Mike: Favorite tracks this is always a hard question because I feel with these reviews they always change the more you listen to the album. Because you pick up on more things that might not have caught your attention initially. So to keep this one short I'll list my 3 favorite tracks. "Foolish", "Rain Blood", and "Omega". This style of Hip Hop is still a little harder for me to fully dive into because of the raw style. Not being someone who has grown up listening to hip hop it's a different taste. Not bad at all, just different. It keeps to the authentic late 80's early 90's hip hop. Honestly next to the Wu-Tang review I never really knew this was a style of hip hop. But I've learned to appreciate that authenticity in the album.
Chris: “Rain Blood”! Such a dope track. It is one song on the album that doesn’t feature Grimm’s vocals. Megalon kills that Doom beat.
MF Grimm feat. Megalon - "Rain Blood"
Chris: Other than “Life and Death”, my favorite track is “Words” which was produced by my guy Count Bass D. I dig the introspection and the dope harmonica sample. You don’t find a lot of harmonica sampled in Hip Hop, leave it to Count Bass D.
MF Grimm - "Words" (Produced by Count Bass D)
Andrae Crouch - "I'll Be Thinking About You"
Chris: Probably my favorite part of reviewing albums with you is that you’re coming from into these reviews blind. I think it’s safe to say that had it not been for the way we chose to review this album, the likelihood of you hearing MF Grimm wouldn’t have been very great, where for me, MF Grimm is one of the best. So now that you’ve heard MF Grimm, where does he rate in with the other rappers you’ve heard? Has listening to “The Downfall of Ibliys” encouraged you to check out more of the MF Grimm discography?
Mike: Oh, I for sure would not have thought to check out MF Grimm's music. That's why I felt this would be a fun/different way to choose an album to listen to. Now after listening to this album would I listen to more of his work? I will check out some more of his stuff. See how or if his style changed as his releases came out, because you know no artist puts out something that sounds the same their entire career. You asked me where I rate him compared to other artists I've listened to. I still want to say Dr. Dre, and the West Coast rappers rank higher. There's just something about the West Coast style that for me I enjoy more. The East Coast from doing these reviews with you I've noticed are the more raw, and real artists in the way the record. Whereas the West Coast guys I personally think they have a more generic structure to their songs. They have a catchy hook, and more a beat that I pertain to like when listening to Hip Hop, but I like that because of these reviews I get to expand on music I've never listened to or thought of listening to.
Chris: I really enjoyed listening to this album again, even more now knowing the back story. Just straight loop based Hip Hop, reminding me of the late 80s, the Golden era. I appreciate Grimm’s honesty and the lengths that he went through to get this album out there. I’ve often heard people say that your first album is often your best because you’ve had your whole life up to that point to create that record. I think this holds true in this case.
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