Album Review by Bradley Christensen
Cheldon McQueen – Strangers
Record Label: Self-released
Release Date: June 11 2013
There are some records that come out, or that you happen to come across, that you might want to listen to, but you just never get around to them. That’s usually because so many other things come out at any given time, or you just happen to find something else, you’re forced to put something on the backburner. I’ve talked about this idea before, especially in the general sense, but I wanted to go a bit deeper into that. When I talked about Lorna Shore’s new album, Flesh Coffin, I talked about hype. Well, I specifically talked about how hype can affect my thoughts on an album, one way or the other, but it doesn’t even have to be hype that can affect my thoughts. Just by waiting to listen to something, that can affect my thoughts, too. Depending on what it is, the excitement can build more and more, but if the album isn’t all that good, that excitement will be for nothing, right? I mean, not necessarily, because I’m always happy that I listened to something, even if it’s not very good (or it’s just not for me). It’s just a bummer when something isn’t all that great, especially when you waited a while to listen to it. The idea is true, too, though – it’s amazing when the excitement that was built up for so long has been totally worth it, thanks to the album in question being fantastic. That’s how I feel about the album that I’ll be talking about today. That album is Strangers, the debut LP (I think, but I only say that, because I couldn’t find too much information about this artist) from rapper Cheldon McQueen. I came across McQueen’s music through the rap group, DWHB, because McQueen has collaborated with the group many times over the last six years. Every time that I’ve listened to his work with them, I’ve loved it, so I’ve wanted to hear some solo work from him. That came in the form of Strangers, but I haven’t had the chance to listen to this until now. I decided to check it out, because I’ve been revisiting their discography, just for kicks. I remembered this LP was released, as well as that I downloaded it, so it was high time to listen to it.
Originally released in 2013, I don’t think I came across this until last year, because that’s when I thought to look into McQueen’s solo work, but better late than never, right? I’ve spent the week with this LP, and like I said, Strangers is a case of an album that had a wait that was worth it. I do have some small issues with this LP, but it’s a great album, either way. It’s got a lot of stuff to enjoy in it. Starting with McQueen himself, he’s got a very, very nice voice. He’s got some great bars throughout this record, but he sings a lot, too. I wasn’t expecting that, actually, because I’ve mainly heard McQueen spit some wicked bars. Despite that, he’s a solid singer. He’s not on the same level as Childish Gambino, or anything like that, but he can hold his own while singing his own hooks. He’s totally fine, despite not being amazing (that is one issue I have with the record, but I’ll talk about that more later on). When he does flow on this LP, he knocks it out of the park. McQueen is a very underrated rapper, both in terms of his flow and lyrics. The lyrics might be my favorite part of this album, too, because there are a lot of interesting ideas covered here. Granted, however, it’s nothing that we really haven’t heard before, such as girls only being into for his money, an ex-girlfriend becoming a “stranger,” or things like that, but it’s all tackled really well. Instead of hearing pointless bragging (DWHB is a group that has a lot of bragging, but they’re the kind of group that doesn’t take themselves too seriously; they’re very funny, witty, and off the wall, versus deep, seriously, and meaningful, which works very well for them), we hear a lot of interesting, introspective, and well-thoughtout lines. There are some funnier lines, though, and the injections of humor are welcomed. I enjoyed his clever punchlines, even if what McQueen says a lot of the time are things we’ve already heard from other various rappers. Even so, his flow is great, so I can give his lyrics a pass, but they are quite solid for what they are.
McQueen’s sound is also very good throughout this LP, and it kind of follows what I said about his singing. I didn’t expect that he would be singing on this album, but a lot of this album is very soulful in its approach. It’s got a very atmospheric, ambient, and soulful sound, at least on a lot of songs. Strangers is still a hip-hop album, but it’s got a lot of subtle nuance to it. That was unexpected, but in a good way. It’s good that the album switches things up, but that leads me into one of the issues I have with this LP. Its sound is kind of two-fold, because as interesting as it is, it’s also not very energetic. This LP is one that I don’t find myself coming back a lot, but it’s not that I can only listen to it during a certain mood. It’s that it’s a bit lengthy, around 51 minutes, so I don’t find myself immediately wanting to listen to this record. That’s not to say it’s not worth listening to it, however, because it is. It’s unique, interesting, and well-executed, but it’s also a bit too long for its own good, especially with how soulful and atmospheric it tries to be throughout its runtime. Like I said, too, McQueen’s singing isn’t the best, but he’s passable, though. I don’t mind it, but it’s not great, so I can’t just ignore that. Either way, Strangers is a really good record. I love it, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a bit on the more unique side, but it’s not in the same vein as Death Grips, or anything close to that. McQueen isn’t for fans of more energetic, straightforward, and “fun” hip-hop. I mean, he can be, for sure, but if that’s mainly what you like, I don’t think you’ll get much out of this LP. If you enjoy McQueen’s verses on DWHB records, I would totally listen to this. Just like their albums, too, this one is free to download. Sure, it came out around four years ago, but this sounds more unique than a lot of mainstream hip-hop at the moment, and with the album being totally free to listen to, you wouldn’t be wasting a cent if the album didn’t do a whole lot for you. The wait to listen to this LP was totally worth it, at least personally speaking.
DWHB – True Facts
Record Label: Self-released
Release Date: November 22 2011
Throughout the last couple of years, I've written a lot of "re-reviews," which are just albums that I've already heard and reviewed, but it was a couple or more ago. Feelings can just a lot in a year, and even just in a month or two, so I decided to try something a little different with albums that I've covered before (whether it was a year ago, or just a few months ago). Not a re-review, per se, but a Rewind Review, in which I'll be briefly talking about the album and whether my feelings are still the same. I didn’t plan on doing this a lot, but I wanted to do this whenever I felt like revisiting an album from the year that I really loved or hated, and see how I feel about it now. Opinions and tastes can really change, even if it's in a brief time, so I thought it would be interesting to see if my feelings still ring true for albums that I've covered in the last couple of months, let alone within the last couple of years.
The album that I’ll be talking about for today’s Rewind Review really takes me back, and before I talk about the album, let me explain why. Back in 2011, I was seventeen years old, and I was just starting to get more into other kinds of music, especially music that was outside of alt-rock, indie-rock, and pop-punk. I was writing my reviews on AbsolutePunk still, and one day, a band came to me with a request to cover their debut LP. That band was Austin, TX-based hip-hop-trio-turned-duo DWHB, with their debut LP, True Facts. Standing for Dem Waffle House Boiz, DWHB was totally new territory for me. The album was totally free to download (that was the first time I really heard about Bandcamp, too, honestly), and I thought I’d check it out, especially since albums like Drake’s Take Care and Childish Gambino’s Camp were released around the same time during that winter / fall. This LP was challenging my tastes quite a bit, but I enjoyed a lot when I heard it. It introduced me to a whole new genre of music, at least new to me, that being hip-hop. Even better, it introduced me to a kind of hip-hop that I enjoy today. There’s no real name for it, but it’s more fun, silly, and energetic stuff. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, mainly in the delivery and content, but the production can still be really, really good. I credit this album, as well as this group, for getting me more into hip-hop, as well as making me realize that not all music needs to be deep, introspective, and all that stuff.
That leads me to the question of the hour – how has the album held up in the last six years? DWHB has released two albums since this one, 2013’s Dog Park, and 2016’s Bulk Spices, and they’ve improved with each release. While I’d say this LP is their weakest, it’s also not a bad album. I don’t think it’s aged exceptionally well over the last six years, but that’s mainly because both the band and myself have matured over time. True Facts is a very rough version of what their sound would become. Very soulful and intricate beatwork, clever and witty lyrics, as well as some fast-paced and impressive bars from a few different rappers (with some guest spots thrown in the mix) is what their “formula” pretty much consists of. The formula has stayed the same over the years, but it’s gotten better over time. This album feels very awkward, clumsy, and clunky. It’s clear that it’s their first album, and while all three members at the time have good chemistry, they definitely needed some improvement. That’s not just in their bars, but in every respect. The lyrics are silly, fun, and clever at times, but they’re also very crude and vulgar, which they improve on over time. The instrumentation is really good, but the instrumentation comes into its own on the next album. It’s just rough around the edges here.
True Facts isn’t on their Bandcamp page anymore, and while I don’t know why they removed it (I could always just ask), it makes sense. This LP is their first one, and it’s not their best one, for better or worse. This one hasn’t aged the best, but it’s not outright bad. I enjoy it a decent amount, and some songs still kick a lot of ass, but I’ll admit that I haven’t been playing it a lot. I’ve been listening to their last two albums much more, because I enjoy them a lot more. This one is good, but it’s not great. I do credit this album with a lot, though, and it’s not like I wouldn’t recommend it. You can’t probably can’t find it anymore, though, since it’s on their Bandcamp, but I’m happy that I’ve been able to revisit this, nonetheless. It’s a nice album, but if you want a better version of this record, their next album in particular is a good one to listen to.
Cheldon McQueen has spent the last week or two on the road with Le$ as part of the Steak X Shrimp Vol. 2 tour. The Houston rapper and producer has had plenty of vibes to catch, plenty of ideas to bounce around and even more tracks to lay out. Last week, McQueen released “World Tour, Award Tour”, a dreamy piano heavy cut with Stoppa. McQueen’s mixes singing and rapping, confesses to using…
