People Under the Stairs - Carried Away
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
Do you feel that pot and pills and assorted academics aren’t enough anymore? Do you need something more? …more than a pill or a pipe or a poem? Well, I’m not sure if the new album from People Under the Stairs will help, but at least you can relate to the first sample on Carried Away, the seventh album from People Under the Stairs. Wait a second…the seventh album? …Ferreal? These guys have apparently been so underground that it took over ten years to discover them.
After the aforementioned sample, “Step Off” continues with a mellow groove and a more aggressive stance than anything that follows…the “kill yourself” part in particular seems out of line with the vibe on the rest of the album. In “Much Too Much,” the subject matter continues to be a bit heavier with lines like, “too much drugs, guns, gang-bangin’ and violence,” but the music is a little lighter for this one. They really kick the party into gear with “Trippin’ At The Disco,” a funky disco-style jam filled with samples that captures the personalities of the duo. (The video is lots of fun as well.) Unfortunately, they slip up when they try to celebrate consciousness change and the two worst tracks are “Beer” and “Come On, Let’s Get High.” The hilarious “Letter From The Old School” gets just about everything right and puts the album back on track. Then, Eazy-E and Keyboard Cat even make an appearance in “DQMOT,” the last better than average track on the album. “Teeth” and “Chicken Kebab” are just too silly to be taken seriously and belong with “Beer” and “…Get High” in the Recycle Bin on your Desktop.
- Score
- 66%
As it is, Carried Away, is one of the top 5 hip-hop albums of 2009, but it would have gotten a much better rating if there were only 13 tracks instead of 17…quality is almost always better than quantity. You can tell that these guys love what they’re doing and they are the best new hip-hop discovery since The Knux from last year. The Knux make some awesome-sounding music, but People Under the Stairs have got them beat with sample usage, lyrics and a general sense of having fun.
