Now if you'd need to know anything about my post topics, anything at all, it would be that I absolutely do not do promo for up and comers who think they are the shit unless I actually believe that they will blow (although I've yet to have anybody hit me up about doing an article promoting themselves). A man by the name of Dayne Jordan (who I posted about back in November of last year, formerly known as Dosage) has accomplished a lot since the last time I posted about him. He came out with a free, 9 track EP named In Progress, he put out his phone number on twitter for his fans to keep in touch with him, and now he's back from a short hiatus to deliver you his free album, the aptly titled The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan. Needless to say, the man has been working. Now if you read the last post about Dayne (or if you keep up with him regularly), you'd know that Dayne toured with Lupe Fiasco on the Stepping Lasers tour back in 2010-2011, and with DJ Jazzy Jeff on the production side of things, Dayne definitely knows how to keep things interesting with his music, but is his music good enough to make you want to listen?
Dayne's ability to tell a story is some of the best I've heard (dare I say since Kendrick, Cole) in quite awhile. The intro track to his album, "In Progress", is the pinnacle of this ability. It's like if you had never heard of him, or never known who Dayne was in your life before this song, you understood his journey after this beautiful (damn near) 6 minute novel of perfect descriptiveness. In "In Progress", Dayne details his come up, and everything that has happened along the way, including starting out working in a Footlocker, and even up to his touring and performing with Lupe Fiasco. You get the picture as clearly as you could possibly get it due to Dayne's picturesque wordplay on "In Progress."
The production on The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan gives such a summery, warm weather feel that it's release date (7/20) is the perfect date to make those summer memories that we all associate so well with great music. DJ Jazzy Jeff handled production for every track on the album, (which was his first full length project since 2007's The Return Of The Magnificent), and his drums, crisp snares, and (of course) DJ scratches throughout the album round it all out in great fashion. "Waitaminit" is a great example of this production, and the breakdown in the middle of the song with the beat boxing and Dayne's 10 year old rapping self are a highlight of the album. This highlights Dayne's hilarious, yet fond view of his past very well.
"Don't Forget" describes more of his growing up in North Philadelphia, such as hearing gun shots and growing up with his mom and struggles with family getting along. The catchy strings and hook make it pretty hard not to bob your head to this jam. An interesting note about the album is that between each track Dayne tells his story leading into each track, topics range from talking about his family to growing up and making friends, and trying to make a name as a rapper. Dayne's honesty, humble story telling and come up are keys to his rise as a star that will make him relatable to people.
Then comes the incredible "Circle of Life" part's 1 and 2. Part 1 is as deep as it gets, the hook is sang in such a way that would get to anyone who happens to be deep in thought at the time. The concept of these songs is brilliant; the concept of one's life ending, being remembered, and mourned in part 1 leads to the beginning of a new life in part 2; being born, having a dream, remembering the little things about why you love your dream, then conquering your dream. Part 2 is carrying on part 1's legacy in the sense that part 1's life never ends, it is only carried on and lived through part 2.
Dayne Jordan's talent is unquestionable. His story telling ability is that of an author (hence why the album title The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is so fitting), and his lyrical ability is a breath of fresh air. While knowing and paying respect to the greats, Dayne pushes the agenda to bring hip hop back to a better time, and it's apparent in his music. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan told us anything else we needed to know, it's Dayne's ability to put together a concept album as genius as the likes of Kendrick Lamar. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is Dayne's life up to this point, I certainly can't wait for the next audio book. I know I didn't post any of the tracks from Dayne's album, but the entire, 13 track album can be found here ---> https://soundcloud.com/daynejordan/memoirs-of-dayne-jordan-1
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