By: Kevan Breitinger
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Braille
The IV Edition
Syntax Records
Urban/Hip-Hop
04-15-2008
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SCORE
  
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The prodigious Braille covers a wide turf on his fourth solo project. Not only does he delve intimately into his personal story, the wide-ranging disc is packed with social commentary and the astounding addition of a different producer for each of the album’s 17 tracks. Among the heavy hitters representing are Marco Polo, Rob Swift, Speech (of Arrested Development), DJ Spinna, 88 Keys, S1 of Strange Fruit Project, Mr. J (of the Procussions) and many more. After touring with the illustrious James Brown for much of 2005 and 2006, Braille also tips his hat to the much-missed icon. Usually favoring the independent route, Braille has chosen to partner up with the brawny Syntax/Koch team for The IV Edition.
The fresh opening standout track “Beautiful Humanity” welcomes everyone in warmly, guitars noodling over thick percussion and eastern-flavored string accents. Braille uses this eastern vibe and snippets of various languages to powerfully promote his welcoming theme of peace and diversity. Nicely done. Although the album’s spiritual overtones don’t come on strong, the potent “Submission Hold” makes it very clear who the battle really belongs to. Braille dips into his own story over the hard-thumping beats and scratches of “Calculated Risk,” and delves into social commentary on the percussion-driven title track, challenging listeners with his straightforward lyric: “The solution to the social issue is you.”
Things lighten up momentarily with the bouncy, playful “The Main Squeeze,” a nod to Mr. Brown, and Braille covers his own motivations on the autobiographical “Remember Your Path”: “When I started rapping I did it for the love.” But he’s back to exploring serious spiritual realities through the darkly looming beats of “Constantly Growing”: “The Tent that we live in is for rent, not owned /It withers away and one day it’s gone.” Strings give an old world feel to the stirring love song “Blessed Man,” notable for both its passion and its splashy percussion. Melodic and moving, the clearly executed “Many Stories” covers both birth and death in the most personal terms.
The ghoulish overtones of “Raise The Dead” fit the track perfectly, very Thriller-like, and the dissonant keys and hard-hitting backbeats of “Double Dose” serve a similar purpose equally well. Braille knows how to drive his message home, fitting each track with succinct nuances to seal the deal: his earthy vocal on the churning “Counter Attack,” the simmering madness evident in the taut energy of “Mental Guards,” and the percolating atmospheric vibe running through “Restless.” Braille finally cuts loose spiritually, even to the point of quoting Scripture, on the string-heavy “The Cure,” and the pulsating rhythms of closer “ADDvice” provide a thick bed for his focused spitting on the way out. Braille’s thoughtful attention to detail pays off in a big way on The IV Edition.
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