A Dream Deferred

"A complicated and skilled artist; The man’s flow is clever, a smoker’s voice washed by acrobatic internal rhyme" - Coke Machine Glow At the end of 2006, after a three year frantic marathon of albums, singles, demos and touring - Ease August was a burnt out 23 year old indie hip hop artist. After finishing a final album, a group effort with Basement Troubadour labelmate Kurram, he quit making music abruptly - just as his talents were taking off. A Dream Deferred, unreleased for eight years, is the best document of those talents. Brash, yet sensitive - A Dream Deferred showcases Ease August at his sometimes very best - whether venting frustration, displaying introspection or just having some plain old rap fun - all over varied but always thumping production. In the vein of Slug of Atmosphere or even Kanye West - Ease August was a bit like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, but before Macklemore ever met Ryan Lewis. The album is really a tour through the mind of someone a bit down and out in mid-2000s America. Society, consumerism, work, the government, personal relationships, your own thinking - all the things that seem to suddenly feel very real (and very constraining) in your post-teenage life. But that isn't to say you don't like a bit of fun, letting loose and cracking a few jokes. 2004's The Cellar was the reflection of a 20 year old who spent a lot of time alone locked in a basement. Two years later, A Dream Deferred is a document of someone with something more to say - a coming of age in a weird (and sometimes a little frightening) time. One theme that runs through the album is technology. In 2006, mobile and surveillance were on their ways up and in. A phone motif is all over this one. And by A Dream Deferred, Ease August had made some real friends - with production and cameos from the likes of Kurram, Nomar Slevik, Jones, C Money Burns, Unconventional Science, Scott D and Arsenic. The result is an awesome collection of killer beats and hooks that provide the wide array of moods. As A Dream Deferred progresses, the frustration with it all mounts. When Ease August claims in "Home" that he just wants out - he means it. In 2007, Ease really did decide he had enough - and that the dream of making music for a living was over, at least for a while. And just like that, off he went. The album cover is a photo that same guy, about three years later. And if he looks care-free and having fun a lot of fun, you now know why - he deferred on the dream.