AK & Jabez is a Hip-Hop duo that actually approached me about reviewing their mixtape. I was a bit reluctant mainly due to time constraints but after giving it some sacred playtime during my daily commute to work the past couple weeks I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Their themes and topics on this mixtape are strictly inspired by their faith and I can respect that, however it does mean that its not for everyone. As MCs, both show a lot of promise but of course are not without some growth areas.

How Much Fire?
Making good use of a diana ross sample from Lets Go Up, this track is full of energy as we are introduced to both MCs. The two artists have a pretty good chemistry together but AK is a bit more refined. Actually this tends to be the trend throughout the entire tape. Its a good track and relatively catchy despite the lack of a true hook.

R.E.D (Respect Every Daughter)
Not really sure of the point of the acronym but the song uses a classic beat from the Geto Boys song Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta. Its a laid back song with a message meant to uplift the ladies. The off key singing (reminiscent of Biz Markie) was a tad distracting. It somehow all comes together decently enough but could have been much stronger with a better singer.

Hurt
AK spits solo on this one. He proves that he can emote well with his delivery. The beat makes good (if a tad unimaginative) use of sampling Christina Aguileras Hurt. The tone is overall dark and almost desperate but feels a tad over the top at times. I think the constant rain and thunder effects were just a bit too theatrical. Still, there is an earnest quality to the song that ultimately makes it a good listen if you dont mind a Passion of the Christ type of theme.

B.I.B.L.E. Remix
Jabez gets his own 125 seconds to shine on this one but only does a decent, not great, job. The beat is solid and he rides it well but nothing really sticks out. Also I dont really like how the hook is mixed down. Its a somewhat forgettable track, nothing incredible, nothing terrible.

Stop, Look, and Listen ft. Haesoo and Peter Park
The beat on this one is pretty nice. Has a nice chill bounce to it. Jabez opens the song strongly. His flow may not be buttery smooth but his enthusiasm is contagious. I thought AK killed the track. He rode the beat nearly perfectly. Haesoo brings a fresh twist as the only female vocal on the entire mixtape. Shes no shin-b or el gambina but the girl can hold her own. Her flows a tad rough around the edges but she spits with energy. Peter Parks vocals are decent enough (and on key!) and he helps bring everything together as each MC gives a quick testimony in 16 bars.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation ft. Cody McClaine
I could be wrong but this track screams internet collabo but I cant hate on that, its the lifeblood of the amateur musician. Theres noticeable difference in quality between AK & Jabez and their collaborator Cody McClaine (who produces the intro and outro btw). Also, I swear this song is using the same horn sample as the one before it (Stop, Look, and Listen). If its not the same then its eerily similar. This track has more energy but Cody on the hook sticks out like a sore thumb because of the mixdown. Also I wasnt totally feeling the Lords Prayer inspired hook, I think it could have been executed better. I thought Jabez stumbled a couple times with his flow and even AK wasnt as engaging as he should have been. Overall its a good song that had the potential to be a great one but ends up falling short of what it could have been.

Changes
They chose a great instrumental for this one. The off key sung hook returns but its still oddly catchy. Its a fun song with both MCs firing on all cylinders as they speak on who theyve been and their conviction for change. I recommend this one.

The King & I
Using a jazzy piano laced beat AK & Jabez deliver a song that seems just OK at first but steadily grows on you. Its not the strongest track on the album but it aint the weakest either. I like the fact they each separately did the hook but think it would have been cool to hear them both come together on it in the end.

Disciple Musik
OK, the off key singing makes yet another return but you know what? It works this time. Really well in fact. Actually as much as I hate it in other songs, I think they could have even used an auto-tune/vocoder type of effect and it woulda been awesome. Overall everything clicks here. A great way to close out the album. You gotta believe yeaaaaaah

Conclusion:
If I were to sum up this mixtape in a single phrase it would be rough but shows promise. AK & Jabez are both very capable MCs but could use to both vary their topics a little bit and dive deeper into the ones they already present. As I first mentioned its a very Christian influenced album an album by believers for believers if you will. I think anyone not in agreement or familiar with much of the subject matter will either be turned off, lost, or both. Thankfully I was able to enjoy the mixtape. Strictly artistic wise, AK is the more polished member and does most of the heavy lifting with a flow sorta like a cross between Flowsik and Lyricks. Jabez shows glimpses of contagious energy but can get caught up in his flow from time to time. His missteps are nothing major but they exhibit small nuances in delivery that could be improved. They have a decent chemistry, but I think it could have been utilized more often. The mixtape has a generally mid-tempo feel, never really getting hyped or mellowed out too much. I wish the album was longer as 11 tracks is somewhat lean, especially considering two of them are the intro and outro. (The outro I thought was a waste of a pretty good beat). I think these two have a lot of good things ahead of them if they continue to grow (musically and spiritually) and if you dont mind some religion with your music then its a good listen.

It's Saturday, 7pm Pacific, at Youngstown Cultural Art Center. Many of the artists just had a bit of fun listening in on each other's sound checks and mini-rehearsals. For the now-18-year-old Massiah, this should be the best night of his life as this is the first event that he's ever assembled. However, the opposite reared its ugly head as the current turnout is rather flat. He's sitting on the side of the building on pins and needles, while local Seattle artist, Krooked, and myself assure him that people will arrive, citing the fact that many don't like to show up to functions on time. As Massiah returns back in, R&B artist, Lorenzo Tautua, stays true to his word that he'll be back at the art center 15 minutes before his performance. Meanwhile, Tacoma artist, Rockwell Powers (of 10th & Commerce) has taken the punches well and remained patient with the outcome. We just learned that Language Arts had a schedule conflict, so he wouldn't be performing at all.

DJ Kim moves the slowly-filling theater with dope instrumentals, such as Eric B & Rakim's "Don't Sweat the Technique," Dead Pres' "Hip-Hop," and one of my favorite 9th Wonder beats. A five-emcee cipher takes place on stage, which includes Rockwell, Star (Massiah's Hype-woman), and Alberto (the head man of Youngstown). Many of the singers for the night are posted by the piano having fun of their own. Kim switches the mood up with something to showcase the breakers. Many of us had our backs turned and didn't realized that a several people did arrive and were watching the B-Boys doing their thing in the circle. Knowing this, Massiah indicates to Lorenzo that he's on in seven minutes. The host, Phoenix, addresses the crowd and gets them hype for the rest of the night.

Ladies and Gentlemen, "The Night of the Gemini" begins...

Lorenzo Tautua: (10 minutes)
As the only R&B artist of the night, Lorenzo is the opening act of the night. Kim is able to take his break since Lorenzo's voice and his ukulele are all that are needed. Lorenzo has many Washington performances under his belt, such as "Cultivate" and UW's "Filipino Night." His four-song set, which included "Closer" and "Here I am," brought the smiles to the ladies' faces in attendance. Although he was very modest about it, Lorenzo's portion of the event set up a good night for the rest of the acts, as well as the audience.

Rockwell Powers: (10 minutes)
Formerly known as Understatement, and with over 50 performances under his belt (half solo and half with 10th & Commerce), Alaska-born Rockwell stepped on stage as the more polished performer of the evening holding no punches with his Ill Pill-produced anthem, "Kids in the Back." Many of Rockwell's remaining set proved to have a calm vibe, but the songs ("Okay" and "Late Believer") showcased plenty of content of a serious artist. Knowing that 10th & Commerce is a band that fuses Hip-Hop, Funk, and Alternative together, that portion of Rockwell was seen when stood amongst the crowd with a mic on the stand and connected. While Rockwell's name is more-so known in the Tacoma area, this is one of those performances that certainly expanded on his fan base in Seattle.

Cody McClaine: (25 minutes)
As the enigma on the bill, I went in like a bat out of hell with a set sprinkled with old, new, and rare material. In this experience in performing, I was slightly winded and my voice was fading, but an endless energy appeared to bring the crowd to a high point after "Masters at Work." According to Massiah, there was no issue in terms of any stage fright (performing IN the crowd twice) or moving the crowd. However, he believes that the true high point of my set was the transition from "The Greatest” to "Set It Off," where he saw the crowd at its strong point.

"Lonely Girl" seemed a bit left-of-center to perform in its entirety due to its sad ending. However, "Onward" proved to uplift the crowd's spirit again. The portion for the ladies facilitated well and drove the rest of the set home to be capped off with "Reach You" from "Late Blossom." As I said before, I couldn't have scripted a better performance, even with grabbing a turned off mic and the lack of performance chops. It had been said by Massiah that I've gained plenty of ears in Seattle. After the performance, he finally got to tell me, "I told you so."

Massiah: (30 minutes)
As the main event, the birthday boy leaves his worry backstage and kicks his set off with a verse to "In Da Club," included with chants of 'Go Massiah! It's my Birthday!' Scattered along the way were portions where he ripped through the familiar "Paper Planes" and "Don't Want to Be A Player," where Lorenzo joined him on stage again to sing the hook. Massiah didn't spare the favorites at all as emcee, Krooked, and singer, Jae, accompanied him for seemingly popular "Mary Jane" (Interesting note about Jae: she sang one line and the place went nuts!).

The set showed signs of going back and forth from joints with content to joints that contain an undeniable Northwest bounce that kept the crowd engaged. For example, after getting into the summer track (untitled at the moment), Massiah seamlessly switched gears into my personal favorite, "Loyalty." Personally, this song signaled a strong point of the set as you can hear the passion in Massiah's delivery. However, I can only enjoy it for a small period of time as I appear on stage within the hook. The reason for this is for the minor AR segment of the show where we performed our only collaboration at the moment, "Keep It Real" (sans Ruby), and a quick 16 from the both of us afterwards on a song that is currently unfinished. There was originally going to be a "Swagger Like Us" remix done to cap the show, but with issues for the session, The set ended with another crowd favorite, "West Side," featuring both Krooked and Lorenzo.

For Massiah's first assembled event, "The Night of the Gemini" exceeded several expectations. While many slept on the event, the artists were blessed enough to have the rowdiest people in the audience. Everybody was very supportive, which includes the audience with the artists and the artists with each other. Without the graces of many of Youngstown's familiar faces, DJ Kim, and those willing to have a good time, this wouldn't be possible, thus I send my thanks to all of Seattle that allowed this to happen. It's certain that the more events that Massiah throws, and promotes, the more people will see the promise that he brings to the local scene. Besides, you'll know never know who he may pull from out of state next time.

The original posting was by me on AR. When videos become available, they'll be posted here.