Spark the Underground

***** FREE T-SHIRT WITH PURCHASE ***** Spark the Underground is the debut album from the multi-talented production team THE E.N.D. Consistent from beginning to end, Spark the Underground is filled with quality Hip-Hop music that is sure to get your head nodding. Providing the lyrical punch is a collection of Southern California's top underground talent. With influences ranging from J. Dilla, Pete Rock and DJ Premier to Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals THE E.N.D. take pride in their ability to create a wide range of moods with their music. From one song to the next THE E.N.D. provide a sound that’s new and refreshing, a sound that attempts to raise the level of Hip-Hop. Review from Platform 8470: With more than average attention we’ve been following the West Coast underground for years. Groups came and went but always managed to add something to that special, warm and creative sound that makes the Left Side one of the most tasteful rap scenes in the world. While Stones Throw celebrates its tenth anniversary and further pushed the Gold Coast movement while introducing East Coast influences, the scene just grew bigger. Of course there’s still a lot of bull**** among the real, but rest assure that production team The E.N.D., compromised of Elokwent and DVS One, belong to the latter group. Since 1993 they’ve been roaming around Southern Cali streets in order to find a way to recognition with a style that could best be described with key words such as 'boombap', 'raw' and 'melodic'. 2006 could well be a breakthrough year of the duo with an album that rocks from song 1, 'So Proceed', with swirling piano keys, a soulful bassline and guest rapper Magnificent thanking his guest producers 'My homey, thanks for the invite, I’m about to ignite and take this hip-hop **** to new heights like oil prices', till song 12, the more ominous title track 'Spark The Underground', with a guest spot by –remember the name- Tate The Great, giving shout outs to the culture and its fallen soldiers such as Pac, Bigga B, Justo (Faison) and J Dilla. Both Elokwent and DVS One have the same style of producing, influenced by the same (mostly East Coast) producers (DJ Premier, Pete Rock, here we go again), resulting in the fact that the album’s strongest suit is consistency and one wouldn’t hear that both have contributed with 6 tracks each. One disadvantage is that some songs sound much alike, while the sped-up voices come back around one time too many (in 'Five Bucks', 'How It Plays Out' and 'Erase The Tears'). Then again, much savoured are the love song 'Hey Gurl' (the only Elokwent - DVS One collabo without any other guests), the up-tempo 'Lone Wolf' with energetic raps by Sophistic and Awd of the Second Thought Crew, the menacing bassline combined with a triumphal flute on 'Revamp' and the triumvirate of Elokwent, Sophistic and Magnificent on the vigorous 'No Hook'. It’s alive and kicking, it has been growing below the grounds for a while so now it’s time to reap the fruits of this blossoming Cali underground production team. The E.N.D. has sucked up the creativity that wanders around in the lively West Coast underground scene, and ‘Spark The Underground’ is clearly a product of the environment. Contact THE E.N.D. myspace.com/wetheend wetheend@yahoo.com