Music:
Member Since: 8/21/2004
Band Website: educatedconsumers.com
Band Members: JASON (t.E.C.K!) & COLE (SEEZMICS) DISRESPECTIVELY
Influences:
Sounds Like: THESE REVIEWS WERE DEFINITELY NOT GIVEN TO US AS RESULT OF BRIBES/THREATS/BRIBES AND THREATS.
ACCESSHIPHOP.COM WISHES YOU DID NOT SLEEP ON US.
Big surprise of the week, and sure to be slept on as they always are...even after I ask that you don’t. Educated Consumers are composed of SeezMics, a socio-political battle emcee who made noise in D.C.’s underground and freestyle circuit, and producer t.E.C.K. who draws heavily on a style very dedicated to 90’s boom-bap. SeezMics has a voice that is golden and works perfectly on every beat, with a cadence similar to Brother Ali and Sage Francis, while the beats constantly have me hooked as the combination of the two work on an almost flawless level. Until now I had never heard of these guys but am honestly impressed...from beginning to end this was a refreshing treat. Word!
THE WASHINGTON POST LOVES US.
"Write/Hear is like a crash-course in underground hip-hop. The Maryland duo -- Seez Mics on vocals and t.e.c.k. on beats -- are clearly students of the genre and have taken the best bits and pieces to craft an album that never outstays its welcome, even at 17 tracks and nearly an hour. The beats are mostly pretty simple. That shouldn’t be construed as a criticism: The simplicity keeps things from getting cluttered. Instead of the stark, sinister beats favored by the likes or GZA or the icy minimalism of the Neptunes, the Consumers opt for straightforward beats with some slightly jazzy samples -- a little flute here, some horns there -- that channel the underground scene of the ’90s more than today. Lyrically the group also avoids extremes, nowhere near nerdcore but without any hard gangsta fronting either. Seez Mics fills the songs with clever wordplay -- "1 Hit Wonder" finds him getting far more mileage out of a number theme than he has any right to -- and there’s a down-to-earth honesty throughout that is one of the album’s strongest assets."
AUDIVERSITY LOVES US.
"In a week that’s been full of hip-hop for us, Educated Consumers round out our five-day forecast with their second album, Write/Hear. Let’s get right into it: The duo of Cole "Seez Mics" Policy and Jason "t.E.C.K!" Fields are not actually from Washington DC or Baltimore - they call College Park, Maryland home - but their reputation as arguably the best hip-hop duo to come from the greater metropolitan area betwixt B-town and Dead City has been growing steadily since they first came together in 1999. Already under their belt are two LPs, Aisle 2 having garnered the most acclaim and getting them the attention that allowed Write/Hear to happen. You’ll have to ask Jason Torres what the name of that first one is.
They’ve opened for Murs. They’ve been on a Warped Tour date. They’ve been hyping Write/Hear on their website for over two years. What took so long? Who cares. It’s finally here, and it’s better than you’re expecting, if you were expecting it at all: As the cover-art suggests, this album is built on old-skool beats and back-to-basics lyrical prowess the kind of which has been lamented so often as of late.
Seez Mics is on form straight away on the title-track, a crowd-pleasing, throw-your-hands-up anthem that has to work like magic live. "Make some noise if you’re ready to enjoy it," and you will be by the time "Right They’re" wraps up a hefty 17 tracks later. This album seems to fly by though, and a large part of the reason is Seez Mics. His delivery isn’t anywhere near Twista-esque brain-benders, but his solid n’ steady flow keeps things lively even as the album winds down in the second half. He’s relentless and relentlessly entertaining.
Though the guys have a NoW Coast mentality on tracks such as "Dot, Dot, Dot..." where their political conscience comes out, the majority of the topics are more about average day-to-day living. "In the Pocket" describes how Seez Mics has to "move a few boxes and write a lot of songs" as the "Internet sales cover half of my rent." Straight commerce, that’s all this is. In some ways, that’s what’s missing from hip-hop these days. On one end, you’ve got the Top 40 Courvoisieur VSOP-sipping superheroes with bullet wounds in their arms and exaggerated tales of thuggery; on the other end, you’ve got the underground good guys with the heart of gold working for their neighborhoods to raise awareness and fight the power by motivating people to get involved and change it from within. Stuck in the middle are the average educated consumers, buying it up but worrying more about the daily grind and paying rent most days than marching against Bush or deciding which slut to take home from the club. "Educated Consumers is not just a mantra," Seez Mics insists. But it can be, and that’s part of the appeal (even if I might inadvertently be undermining everything they stand for).
"Save the cookie-cutter mutter for 106 & Park," has to be my favorite line, from "Catch a Glimpse." Seez Mics is sharp alright, and the fact that you get some Pharcyde-worthy beats from t.E.C.K! makes this feel like it came straight outta 1992. It’s laid-back sonically, but the rhymes can be aggressive depending on the subject. That clash is at the crux of the greatness behind this record. Its austerity works in its favor, smart but not distracting in sound and lyrically smart but not preachy.
Write/Hear is a great album because it shows how necessary every point on the hip-hop spectrum is. I’m not going to lie and say that "This is Why I’m Hot" doesn’t have an incredible beat with mind-numbingly stupid lyrics, or say that Sage Francis doesn’t have a keen eye for exposing political turmoil... But Educated Consumers prove that you can have both, and neither, and still be good. That’s the magic of this album. It’s totally average and perfect for exactly that reason.
If there’s nothing else, this single week has reinvigorated my belief in hip-hop. It’s far from a dead art, and though Educated Consumers are taking a slightly different approach - a little more throwback than Pharoahe Monch’s futurism and a little less crate-diggingly deep funk than Copperpot - they are still a vital part of the landscape this genre has traversed in its relatively short existence. Educated Consumers are for the educated consumer: They know what the score is, but they play to their strengths and it shows. If you’ve dug what we’ve had here this week, support these witty bastards and get this album. We’ll both be glad you did."
FEEL FREE TO READ THE AUDIVERSITY INTERVIEW.
Record Label: VerIZum records
Type of Label: Indie
