MIXTAPE REVIEW: AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD, "THE EVOLUTION OF AN EMCEE--

MIXTAPE REVIEW BY:  WISDOM

FROM THE WEATHERED STREETS OF HARM CITY YOU WILL FIND AN EMCEE/POET/ARTIST THAT DIDN'T ALLOW THE ELEMENTS TO COMPLETELY DICTATE HIS PATH.  HIS NAME:  AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD.  HIS PATH:  THE EVOLUTION OF AN EMCEE---AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD.  HIS FACILITATOR:  DJ BLACK WIZARD.  HIS AIM:  TO ELEVATE THE ART OF HIP HOP.  AHMED IS FROM THAT SCHOOL OF HIP HOP THAT INSTILLED REAL LYRICISM AND SKILL IN THE ART OF RHYMIN'.  YOU CAN HEAR EXACTLY THAT LYRICISM AND SKILL IN THIS MIXTAPE.  IT IS A BIRD'S EYE VIEW INTO THE SOUL OF A MAN THAT TAKES HIP HOP FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS, A CULTURE.  I CAN DEFINITELY IDENTIFY WITH THIS LIKE-MINDED ARTIST, FOR HIP HOP IS NOT JUST RHYMIN' FOR THE SAKE OF RIDDLIN', BUT FOR ELEVATING MIND STATES FROM STATE TO STATE.  COMING FROM THE FREE STATE AND CITY OF HARM, AHMED SHOWCASES OVER AND OVER THAT INTELLECT IS A PRIZED COMMODITY THROUGHOUT HIS MIXTAPE.  IN THIS DAY AND TIME IT IS RARE THAT AN EMCEE, A TRUE EMCEE, REVEALS HIMSELF FROM A TRANSPARENT STANDPOINT. AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD DOES JUST THAT, WITHOUT DILUTING HIS MESSAGE OR MISSION. 

THE MIXTAPE CONSISTS OF 26 TRACKS ALTOGETHER, A COMPILATION OF COMPLETED SONGS AND INTERLUDES.  LISTENING FROM THE ONSET, YOU HEAR (AND ACTUALLY VISUALIZE) SOMEONE THAT CARES DEEPLY ABOUT WHAT HE SAYS IN EVERY VERSE.  THE FIRST OFFERING, "SCENE 1" (OVER KRS-ONE'S "MC'S ACT LIKE THEY DON'T KNOW) STARTS OFF THE MIXTAPE STRONGLY, ALLOWING AHMED TO EXPOUND ON HIS BEGINNINGS IN THE HIP HOP SCENE.  HE TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS INITIAL HIP HOP GROUP EXPERIENCE YIELDED THE PREDECESSOR TO THE CONTROVERSIAL "DMV MOVEMENT".  BALTIMORE, DC, AND RICHMOND WERE REPRESENTED DURING THIS MUSICAL HEYDAY.  THREE DIFFERENT, YET SIMILAR-MINDED, ARTISTS COMBINED TO SPIT "WIDE WORLD OF RAP".  THROUGHOUT THE MIXTAPE, YOU CAN HEAR AHMED DISCUSSING HIS INFLUENCES WITHIN THE HIP HOP CYPHER, AS WELL AS HIS BEGINNINGS AS A DJ BEFORE PICKING UP THE MICROPHONE FROM AN EMCEE PERSPECTIVE.  IT IS QUITE REFRESHING TO HEAR AN ARTIST ARTICULATE TRUE FEELINGS ON THE STATE OF HIP HOP MUSIC WITHOUT ADVOCATING IGNORANCE.  THE MIXTAPE CONTINUES TO FLOW, WITH VARIED INSTRUMENTALS SUCH AS '''93 TIL INFINITY" AND "MEMORY LANE" PLAYING AS THE BACKDROP.    EACH SCENE THROUGHOUT THE EVOLUTION OF AN EMCEE ALLOWS AHMED TO DISCUSS HOW THE ENVIRONMENT MOLDED, BUT DIDN'T COMPLETELY MAKE HIS WHO HE IS ON THE MICROPHONE, EITHER AS EMCEE OR POET.  "SPITTIN'" COMES FROM A DOPE SLANT, AS THE BALTIMORE-BRED EMCEE SHOWS DURING HIS TWENTIES THAT HIP HOP WAS (AND STILL IS) A WAY OF LIVING.  HE SPIT ABOUT HIS PASSION FOR THE ART OF SPITTING HARD-HITTING LYRICS.  "CHERISH YOUR BREATHE" IS JUST AS THE TITLE STATES, AS THE MAN BEHIND THE MIC MUSES OVER LIFE AND LIVING.  WITH "REAL HIP HOP" AND "ONE LOVE" BY NAS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND, SCENE SIX KICKS OFF WITH A DISSERTATION OVER A DOPE PRODUCTION.  "BALTIMORE SON" MAY BE THE BEST OF THIS DYNAMIC COLLECTION, AS THE LYRICAL WIZARD WAXES POETIC ABOUT BEING A PRODUCT OF THE CITY OF HARM.  TOO BAD THE BALTIMORE SUN WON'T DEVOTE EDITORIAL SPACE ABOUT THIS "BALTIMORE SON", BECAUSE A BREATHE OF DOPE, FRESH AIR IS WHAT AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD IS IN THIS DAY AND AGE.  TIME AND TIME AGAIN, HE DISCUSSES STREET LIFE, BUT FROM AN INTELLECTUAL LEVEL.  HE LYRICALLY SHOWS HOW AN EMCEE CAN BE INFLUENCED, YET RISE ABOVE, STREET EXISTENCE.  TRACK 18, ENTITED "THE LETTER", CONTINUES THE INFORMATIVE, BUT NOT PREACHY, APPROACH THAT APPEARS THROUGHOUT THIS MIXTAPE.  THE SEQUENCING ON THIS MIXTAPE ALLOWS EACH SONG TO FLOW FROM ONE TO ANOTHER, GIVING THE PROJECT A COHESIVENESS YOU USUALLY DON'T FIND ON THE MIXTAPE CIRCUIT.  TRUTHFULLY, THIS IS MORE OF A CONCEPT ALBUM THAN MIXTAPE, BECAUSE OF THE CARE GIVEN TO EACH SONG INCLUDED ON THE PROJECT.  "BACK TO THE STREET" IS A CAUTIONARY TALE ABOUT THE ALLURE OF THE STREET, AND THE ULTIMATE DOWNFALL YOU MAY ENCOUNTER IF VISION IS BLURRED.  "MY WOMAN" SLOWS THE PACING DOWN A TAD BIT, AS AHMED SPITS KNOWLEDGE ABOUT NUBIAN QUEENS, SOMETHING YOU JUST DON'T SEE OR HERE IN 2011, WHEN MISOGYNY IS STILL A SOLID MINDSET.  "9 TO 5" IS THE SONG I CAN DEFINITELY RELATE TO, AS THIS EMCEE TALKS ABOUT THE GRIND OF WORKING FOR PAYCHECK AFTER PAYCHECK WITHOUT ANY REAL PAYOFF IN THE LONG RUN.  THE FINAL COMMENTARY ON THE MIXTAPE/ALBUM HYBRID WAS "SCENE 7", WITH AHMED SPEAKING OVER BLACK MOON'S "HOW MANY MC'S".  "PRESTO CHANGO" UPPED THE PACING, WITH MORE INTROSPECTIVE, YET BRAVADO-LACED, LYRICS AIMED AT ANY AND ALL LISTENERS.  "AHMED OUTRO" GAVE THIS ARTIST A CHANCE TO GIVE BACK LOVE TO HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COMRADES IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE.  CLOSING OUT THE MIXTAPE WAS A CAPELLA IN NATURE, GIVING WEIGHT TO HIS ALREADY HEAVY LYRICAL APPROACH.

OVERALL, THIS MIXTAPE SHEDS EVEN MORE LIGHT ON A BLESSED AND TALENTED EMCEE.  ONE LISTEN, AND YOU WILL AGREE THAT AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD IS CUT FROM A DIFFERENT CLOTH THAN YOUR TYPICAL BALTIMORE EMCEE.  HE IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, EVEN AFTER OVER SIXTEEN YEARS IN THE "NOT TO BE PLAYED" GAME, AS AN EMCEE, DEEJAY, SPOKEN WORD ARTIST, RADIO PERSONALITY, RENAISSANCE MAN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.  KEEP YOUR THIRD EYES OPEN FOR AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD!

Tracklisting----"The Evolution Of An Emcee-Ahmed The Last Born Child":

1) SCENE 1 (over KRS-ONE - MC's Act Like They Don't Know)
2) WIDE WORLD OF RAP
3) AHMED FREESTYLE 99'
4) SCENE 2 ( over Nas - Memory Lane; Artfacts - Wrong Side Of The Tracks; Soul of Mischief - 93' Til Infinity)
5) DI DOUBLE F
6) WHAT WE DO
7) SCENE 3 ( over Lords of the Underground - Chief Rocka)
8) TOO MUCH TOO MANY
9) THE DIRT THEY DID
10) SCENE 4 (over Crooklyn Dodgers - Crooklyn)
11) BACK AGAINST THE WALL
12) SCENE 5 -(over Pete Rock & CL Smooth - T.R.O.Y)
13) SPITTIN'
14) I'M NEXT
15) CHERISH YOUR BREATH
16) SCENE 6 ( over DAS EFX - Real Hip Hop; Nas - One Love)
17) BALTIMORE SON
18) THE LETTER
19) BACK TO THE STREET
20) AHMED PROMO ( over Nas -The World Is Yours)
21) MY WOMAN
22) 9 TO 5
23) SCENE 7 (over Black Moon - How Many Mc's - Dana Coppa - Paradise
24) PRESTO CHANGO
25) AHMED OUTRO (over Raheem of Ancient Sounds - Didn't I)
26) AHMED - FREESTYLEAPELLA 2011




Links:
http://djblackwizard.podomatic.com/entry/2010-12-31T17_19_08-08_00
http://cveg.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjjTefe_9pg

DB1906.WORDPRESS.COM D'S BLOG GREATEST HITS MIXTAPE VOL. 1

 NO WORDS NECESSARY...JUST LISTEN TO THE MIX!


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HOTRADIO16.COM SHOW AT SONAR----OCT. 13TH

DJ BLACK WIZARD FROM HOT16RADIO.COM WAS THE DJ FOR THE KING HELL BASTARD SHOW AT SONAR ON OCTOBER 13TH.  UNFORTUNATELY, THE HEADLINER FOR THE SHOW, DUBBED THE "TWO WEEK TOUR",  HAD TO RETURN TO MILWAUKEE DUE TO AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.  HOWEVER, THE SHOW OBVIOUSLY HAS TO GO ON.  IN THE HOUSE WERE LOCAL LUMINARIES SUCH AS CVEG CEO LEW WILLIAMS, AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD, MZ UNDASTOOD FROM DA BEAT 1650AM, AND DJ TNT.  MZ UNDASTOOD ALSO SERVED AS HOST FOR THE HIP HOP EVENT, ALLOWING THE SHOW TO FLOW FROM BEGINNING TO END.

HIP HOP STAPLES LIKE "HOW I COULD JUST KILL A MAN", "TIME 4 SUM AKSHUN", "SCENARIO", AND "OH MY GOD" WERE SPUN BY DJ BLACK WIZARD, SETTING THE STAGE FOR AN EVENING OF GRITTY, UNDERGROUND HIP HOP.  WITH DJ BLACK WIZARD ON THE WHEELS OF STEEL, THE FIRST ACT OF THE EVENING WAS DC EMCEE TARICA JUNE.  BRINGING A POSITIVE, FEMININE FLAIR TO THE FESTIVITIES, THE ONLY FEMALE SPITTER ON THE BILL WAS ABLE TO KEEP THE SONAR CROWD CAPTIVATED.  SHE PERFORMED JOINTS FROM HER MIXTAPE MOONLIGHT REVOLUTION SUCH AS "CRAZY GIRLS", A SONG SHOWING POSSIBLE MALE SUITORS THAT SHE IS FAR REMOVED FROM THE SONG TITLE, AS WELL AS "SLOW DOWN", A COOL SONG UTILIZING A POPULAR TRACY CHAPMAN SAMPLE FROM "FAST CAR".  HER VIBE AND PERSONA WERE A WELCOME DEPARTURE FROM THE NORMAL HIP HOP FARE ONE CAN COME TO EXPECT FROM A TYPICAL GRITTY UNDERGROUND EXPERIENCE.  I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE FROM THIS DYNAMIC EMCEE.  BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR REVIEW AND INTERVIEW FORTHCOMING WITH TARICA JUNE.

AFTER A BRIEF INTERLUDE, THE NEXT ARTIST TO PERFORM WAS JAEYU.  THIS OVER 6 FEET TALL MICROPHONE CONTROLLER BLESSED THE CROWD WITH SWAGGER AND SKILLS TO MATCH.  HIS RUGGED BARITONE MATCHED WELL WITH HIS BRAGGADOCIO METAPHORS.  HE PERFORMED A FEW SONGS FROM A RECENT PROJECT, AND ENDED HIS SET WITH AN ACAPELLA FREESTYLE TO SHOWCASE HIS LYRICAL GRIT AND TALENT.  I HAD THE PLEASURE OF SPEAKING WITH HIM AFTER HIS ENERGIZED SET, AND WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SIT DOWN FOR A BRIEF INTERVIEW, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE ARTIST WAS NOT ABLE TO STAY AFTERWARDS.  HOPEFULLY I , WILL GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOP IT UP WITH JAEYU IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

BLACKSTAFF WAS THE NEXT HIP HOP CONGLOMERATE TO HIT THE SONAR STAGE, AND THEY BROUGHT ENERGY AND A 2010 SWAGGER TO THE HIP HOP AFFAIR.  THIS FIVE-MAN CREW COMMENCED TO RHYME OVER "BEAMER BENZ OR BENTLEY" JOINT, REPPING HARM CITY, AS WELL AS DROPPING DIRTY, HARDCORE LYRICS OVER "LEMONADE", THE SONG MADE FAMOUS BY GUCCI MANE.  THEIR FIFTEEN MINUTE OR SO SET WAS COOL OVERALL, AND THEY MANAGED TO GARNER SUPPORT FROM THE HIP HOP CONTINGENT WITHIN SONAR'S WALLS.

FORTUNATELY FOR THE AUDIENCE, MZ. UNDASTOOD WAS ABLE TO KEEP THE FESTIVITIES FLOWING WITH HER ARTIST INTRODUCTIONS.  COMING FROM THE DC METRO AREA, YOU CAN CATCH MZ UNDASTOOD ON DA BEAT 1650-AM ON "KONSIDER DIS SHOW" WITH DJ TNT, TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS FROM 7-10 PM.  SHE SPOTLIGHTS LOCAL TALENT NOT ONLY IN THE DC METROPOLITAN REGION, BUT ARTISTS FROM HARM CITY SUCH AS NEPHEW, AHMED THE LAST BORN CHILD, SLAY, E.N.V.I.E., AND COUNTLESS OTHERS.

COMING FROM THE DC REGION WAS AN EMCEE KNOWN AS SLEEP.  THIS EMCEE REPPED FOR THE DMV, RHYMING OVER THE INSTRUMENTAL FOR THE RICK ROSS JOINT "B.M.F. (BLOWING MONEY FAST)".  I WASN'T ABLE TO GET HIS SET LIST FOR THE SONGS PERFORMED, BUT THIS DC-BASED ARTIST DID WELL WITH THE MOSTLY B-MORE AUDIENCE. 

UNFORTUNATELY FOR THE CREW SHAME, THERE WERE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH THEIR MUSIC THAT PREVENTED THEM FROM PERFORMING THEIR SET.  BEING THE REAL HIP HOP ARTISTS THEY ASPIRE TO BE, THEY DROPPED AN IMPROMPTU FREESTYLE TO LET THE LISTENERS KNOW THEY CAME, THEY SAW, AND THEY ATTEMPTED TO CONQUER.

NEXT ON THE BILL WAS DIRT PLATOON, A RUGGED CREW REMINISCENT OF M.O.P.  THEY BROUGHT AN ENERGETIC SET TO THE STAGE, PERFORMING SONGS SUCH AS "PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE" AND OTHERS OFF OF THEIR RELEASE DEEPER THAN DIRT.  FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, THIS TWO-MAN CREW HAS BEEN MAKING THE ROUNDS ALONG THE EAST COAST PROMOTING THIS ALBUM, AND FOR GOOD REASON.  DIRT PLATOON BRINGS A VINTAGE B-MORE HIP HOP AESTHETIC TO THE MASSES.

CONSISTING OF THREE EMCEES (REAP, EVEL EYE, P), THE NEXT SET OF ARTISTS BROUGHT A SOMEWHAT UNIQUE AND OLD SCHOOL APPROACH TO THE STAGE.  WEARING T-SHIRTS PROMOTING THEIR "LIFELINE" MIXTAPE, P, REAP, AND EVEL EYE BLESSED THE CROWD WITH SONGS SUCH AS "BEST KEPT SECRET" AND "GIMME A BEAT".  THE TRIO, WHO PERFORM UNDER THE PNREAP ENTERTAINMENT UMBRELLA, WERE ABLE TO KEEP THE CROWD MOTIVATED AND CAPTIVATED WITH THEIR LYRICAL WIT AND SKILL.

JAY MCGRAW, CEO OF M.A.M. RECORDS, HIT THE STAGE TO PROMOTE AND PERFORM CUTS FROM HIS NEWEST MIXTAPE GRAND OPENING.  THE TITLE CUT PUT THE CROWD IN A B-MORE STATE OF MIND, AS MCGRAW USED THE STAGE AS HIS HIP HOP PLAYGROUND.  HE WASN'T PLAYING AROUND, HOWEVER, WHEN SPITTING VENOMOUS LYRICS ABOUT REALITY-BASED EXPERIENCES.  THE SET FOR JAY MCGRAW ALSO INCLUDED A SPIRITED DANCE ROUTINE THAT SHOWCASED BALTIMORE'S VAUNTED CLUB DANCING.  HIS SET ENDED WITH AN ACAPELLA JOINT, PUTTING A NICE EXCLAMATION POINT AND PREPARING US FOR HIS "GRAND OPENING".

CLOSING OUT THE EVENING, THE UNCONVICTED FELONZ CREW HIT THE STAGE.  CHUK DIESEL, ONE LIFE, ONE OF 1, AND FRENCHY HIT THE SONAR CROWD WITH RELENTLESS VIGOR, SHOWCASING THEIR PENCHANT FOR GRITTY AND RUGGED SOUNDS.  UFC, AS THIS CREW IS REFERRED TO, PERFORMED VARIOUS SONGS FROM THEIR MULTITUDE OF PROJECTS.  I ENJOYED SEEING THIS COLLECTIVE PERFORM AFTER CONDUCTING A BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH THEM BEFORE THE START OF THE SHOW, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO SEE HOW THIS GROUP OF LIKE-MINDED EMCEES WILL GROW, AND ULTIMATELY, EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS WITHIN THE HIP HOP SPRECTRUM.

OVERALL, THE SONAR EXPERIENCE WAS A POSITIVE SIGN THAT TRUE HIP HOP IS ALIVE AND GROWING IN BALTIMORE.  FROM A SPONTANEOUS RHYME CYPHER IN THE HALLS OF SONAR, TO THE COMARDERIE SHOWN AMONGST THE CROWD, IT WAS VERY EVIDENT THAT BALTIMORE IS INDEED A HIP HOP CITY.  I HOPE THAT ALL THE PARTICIPANTS TAKE NOTE THAT BANDING TOGETHER IS FOR THE COMMON CAUSE OF EXPANDING BALTIMORE'S HIP HOP BRAND OUTSIDE OUR CITY LIMITS, AND INTO THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT.  IT WILL TAKE A COLLECTIVE EFFORT, BUT OUR CITY IS POISED TO TAKE ITS PLACE ON THE HIP HOP LANDSCAPE.

ONE LOVE!

WISDOM