Album Review: Members Only

Today I will be reviewing music from the hip hop trio Members Only (aka MO Squad). They are a young, Michigan based group comprised of 2 rappers (SG, Esko) and a producer/beat maker (StuJ). I have included links at the bottom of this review to access all of their music for free. Check ‘em out!

Let me start with a flashback.  I’m not talking about what I had for lunch yesterday.  I’m talking about the 1700s.  It is weird to think that in this time period, music came from one place and one place only: the concert hall.  Composers wrote their music to sound good in concert halls and that was that.  They might have worried about the acoustical differences between halls, but that would have been the extent of their worries. 

Today is a radically different story.  Music has to sound good through my good headphones, through my bad headphones, on my laptop speakers, and in my car.  This is where the art of studio production comes into play.  I am here to attest: the MO Squad has a master of this art at the helm, and his name is StuJ.  Songs like “Recognize the G” and “On the Way” have enough punch from the low end to give my car speakers a good rumbling.  But then I throw on my headphones and marvel at how the voices on “Lames” and “We Don’t Need That Shii” dart back and forth (with different filters and effects being applied to boot).  There is some serious complexity at work here. 

Now let’s talk about why this all really matters: the beats.  This is the focal point of the MO Squad’s music.  StuJ has quite the laundry list of influences (“reggae, zydeco, blues, funk, Afro-Cuban styles, and New Orleans second line”) and it seeps into every single second of the music.  The beats are incredibly diverse, even a little quirky at times.  “I hope it aint for nothin” has a light blend of bells, swooping sounds, and…is that an alarm clock?  “Mi Amor” is not quite right.  It throws an atmospheric reggae beat against a melodic line that is slightly off kilter, making you feel that despite the song’s warm smile it has a knife behind its back.  Then you have “Hundred”, which has just as much drive as any hard hitting beat Busta Rhymes could spit over.

Before I delve into the rapping and the lyrics (SG and Esko’s props are long overdue), allow me to pick apart two minor points with the production.  The first is the synthesized string sounds (“Hundred”, “I hope it aint for nothin”).  I can sympathize with any producer in this day and age.  Who can reach into their pocket and pull out a string orchestra?  I truly believe it is tragic that the hip-hop and classical worlds are miles apart.  For the time being, though, I offer two solutions (actually, my girlfriend gave this advice): go real, or go super artificial.  Chop up and distort the hell out of those synth strings so you mask fact that it’s fake in the first place.  The second point (and a little bit more important) is the balance between the vocals and the beats.  Especially in a setting like listening on my car speakers, the vocals get lost in the mid-frequencies of the beats.  Eminem’s aggressive, high pitched vocals could pierce through, but SG and Esko’s aesthetic is a bit more low-key (and this is the way they like it).  Their voices need to have a little bit more footing in the mix.   

Speaking of the vocals.  The danger of StuJ’s eclectic approach is that it requires the rappers to have a wide array of rhythmic sensibilities.  The flow of the rapping has to mesh with the underlying rhythm; otherwise, you are trying to build the Burj Khalifa on top of the foundation of the Empire State Building.  SG and Esko have no reservations about their rapping ability, proclaiming on the song “Hundred” that they have “100 styles and 100 flows”.  I would have to agree.  They lay back their rhythm on “Grind Hard” to match the wide spaces in between each beat.  But then check out how their flow shifts throughout “We Don’t Need That Shii”.  One minute the words are pouring out in a continuous waterfall, the next minute the words are stopping and starting to match the uneasy choppiness of the beat.  The frantic, runaway beat on “What I Live 4” threatens to leave both SG and Esko behind in the dust.  Not only do they hold on, they add another level of urgency by infusing their own rhythmic energy on top.  These two rappers are true chameleons, possessing the ability to wrangle any one of StuJ’s twisted beats into a corner and make it their own.  They are superb masters of delivery.

I’m going to leave my review with a final question.  I believe that hip hop music is currently in a state of schizophrenia.  We have always had the old fogeys (Dr. Dre, Jay-Z), but now we have the new kids on the block (Lil Wayne and the rest of the YMCMB), the new-er kids on the block (Mac Miller, J Cole), the arTists (Kanye, Kid Cudi), and the eccentric weirdos (Das Racist, Childish Gambino).  All of these folks are using machetes to carve out their own little niches in vast, unexplored, musical jungle.  I feel that the MO Squad is playing it safe.  Their lyrical content is a bit too middle of the road, treading on well worn paths such as marijuana (“Mi Amor”), girls (“On the Way”), haters (“Lames”), and success/braggadocio (“Hundred”).  The MO Squad is operating with three members who bring an immense pool of talent and experience.  They have the potential to make a sizeable dent in any one of the hip-hop cliques I mentioned above.  So my final question is, which way will they go?  Obviously I have as much of a say in this as the weatherman has control over the weathervane.  It is MO Squad’s choice, but it is a choice I look forward to seeing come into fruition.

There is no reason for you to pass up a supremely talented hip-hop group like the MO Squad.  They truly have a perfect pairing here: StuJ acting like the mad scientist behind the studio board with SG and Esko spitting out a slew of rhythms behind the mic.  Most impressive to me are StuJ’s innovative beats and creative studio work, so be sure to throw on some good headphones for the full experience.  I am still discovering small little complexities buried beneath layers of slick production work.  This is an up and coming hip-hop group you are not going to want to miss. 

Over at NPR’s Sound Opinions they judge music on a “buy it, burn it, or trash it” scale.  The MO Squad’s music is absolutely a “buy it” for me, but conveniently enough you can get all of their music for free from the links below.  Download it, roll down the windows (or throw on the headphones), and blast it for the perfect summertime mix. 

http://www.reverbnation.com/mosquadron

http://mosquadron.com