JustMe and Wonder Brown – Quintessential

Eseye/Scribbling Idiots (May 22, 2010)
Reviewed by SSRC

The Scribbling Idiots crew has been putting in major work in 2010. Putting together a monthly subscription service will do that to a crew. Each month we are blessed with at least one EP of new music for the masses. That doesn’t count the other releases that are put out by the crew outside the subscription service. One of the most recent EP’s is the JustMe and Wonder Brown 5 song banger called Quintessential. For those who don’t know, JustMe is a veteran emcee who started out in the SolSeekers crew and then went solo and hooked up with the SI crew. He is in one of those zones right now dropping some of the best music I have ever heard by him. Wonder Brown has released one of the best pieces of music I have heard this year with the Gallows EP.

After listening to this EP a couple of times I would say it is something very special. With only 5 songs on the EP, there isn’t much room to go wrong but there also isn’t much time to impress. You have to catch the listener’s ear with solid production, thoughtful lyrics and consistency. People are not as forgiving with less music, everything has to be tight. JustMe and Wonder Brown take on that task and blow it out of the water. At a time when it’s hard to find something that reminds you why you love Hip Hop music, this EP fills the void.

On this EP, JustMe and Wonder Brown created a concept where they took the Five Essences (Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Spirit) and equated them with the first five books of the Bible. Even the song titles make reference to the theme with Geneology, Exhalodus, F.L.O.W., Embers and University. You can hear the thought and effort that went into the music and when you combine that with their talent, it’s all you can ask for.

It’s really hard to say what stands out more with this project in regards to production and lyrics. Each time you listen to the marching drum on Geneology or the dark horn on F.L.O.W. you feel the music flow through your body. On the next listen, you hear JustMe and Wonder Brown dropping some nuggets that not only make you think but sound so fresh that you just know they were meant to make this EP. Quintessential comes together so well that after you finish listening to it, you can’t help but feel deep down that something bigger then these emcee’s was at work.

I tried hard to find something wrong with this piece of artistry. I listened to the EP over and over again and I found that they really mastered the ‘less is more’ concept. Most of the songs on the EP only have 2 verses and both emcee’s packed each verse with no wasted words. The production fits each song perfectly, even the guitar sample which I wasn’t sure of initially on Embers actually works to perfection. The songs are all around 2 to 3 minutes so again, you just get into it and you are onto the next song. I guess if you had to be very picky you could wish they made it longer. It’s a very quick listen but in today’s world when we are moving from one thing to the next this is a great piece of music to get in on a drive to work or a ride on the bus.

You will notice a very high mark on this EP and I always get scared when that happens. People have been putting out rap records for 30 years now and I have to ask myself if this new music would stand the test of time against the classics I grew up on. I am confident that in it’s own way this EP will be looked at in a very special way 10 years from now. I am not sure how many people will hear it but if they do they will stumble onto a piece of music that is clever, honest, heartfelt and truly Hip Hop.

Purchase CD – download – iTunes

For fans of: Scribbling Idiots, Theory Hazit, Braille, Sintax the Terrific, JustMe, Wonder Brown