Album Reviews

Disclaimer: This review is intended to be a part of the future development, HorribleHipHop.com.  And by that we mean, not horrible.

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Keeping in line with the spirit of Canada Day, another Canadian hip hop album review (what could be more horrible?)! There is nothing better than dedicating more dead online space to the worst hip hop acts, with a special focus on terrible Canadian talent as we head towards the renowned July 1st holiday.  Following that notion, today we review Yes! by K-Os which was released on April 14th of this year (2009, in case you forgot) through Universal.  This album has seen pretty decent commercial success since it was first released, but K-Os and his supporting band have recieved great crticial praise for their work on the Karma Tour.  The album peaked at number 9 on the Canadian Album Chart.

Some of you may hate me for saying it, and some of you may not care what I have to say about it, but I love the Yes! effort put forth by K-Os and just about everything associated with it.  Yet again K-Os explored several new sounds and placed himself on a plateau I associate with very few artists- especially with newer hip hop.  I'll admit, there were occasions in which some of these new sounds didn't work for me whatsoever.  For example; the track 'Astronaut'?  I mean, I certainly can't sit here and say it doesn't lend support to those who feel K-Os moved in the wrong direction with this album.  I am also willing to concede the track 'I Wish I knew Natalie Portman', though because its an incredibly catchy track that was released right before summer it wins.  If you really dislike Phantam Planet's sample then I guess we're going to have a tough time getting along on this one.

There are several summer songs on this album that have been rocking Ontario beaches, bars, and stereos for a couple months already.  '4 3 2 1' has been a working single for quite some time, and will likely hit several sets again this summer.  This track is an excellent example of the K-Os contribution to hip-hop and I love how he reworked the classic beat to make a completely new sound.  Its a nearly perfect song, if not entirely perfect.  Take my word for it.

Prior to public sales release, K-Os released the entirety of this album on the music community Indaba.  I thoroughly enjoy the concept of being interactive with music and releasing it open source to grass roots collaboration communities.  However, I did not enjoy the outcome of the remix album 'Yes! Its Yours'; for the most part the product was poor.  With the exception of a few tracks, 'Yes! It's Yours' is not worth writing home about.  There was an overuse of cheesy synths, horrible percussion samples, and auto-tuned k-os voices; need I say more?.  I wasn't really sure what to make of it the first time I heard it, but I can't say I made it through to too many more listens. 

However, the release on the music collaboration community spawned more than just the remix album.  It gave an opportunity for everyone to get their hands on K-Os's work to make his album a truly interactive experience for passionate music fans. Yet again pushing the boundaries of hip hop with his sounds and styles, K-Os has now helped push the boundaries of a typical music release.  Becoming more interactive and collaborative is an emerging trend that we have witnessed for some time now, but the full fledged support of mainstream alternative acts such as K-Os is quite important. All fans enjoy getting a hands on experience with the music they listen to, and working with the tracks of your favorite albums to build new songs is as rewarding as it sounds.  Not to mention this has to be just about the best way to get a truly committed and involved listener base.  Those who made the final cut on the remix album will surely never forget this experience, and K-Os has developed several life long messengers for his art.

More special about the remix album is the fact that it was released for free on the Karma Tour.  The Karma Tour was a wonderful "Pay What You Want" tour in support of environmental issues and David Suzuki (and of course, the album Yes!).  There was tonnes of free schwag (including the remix album) for the launch of the tour in Toronto at the Kool Haus, and the Karma donation boxes were seemingly filled to the brim.  Great concept, well executed, well produced, and of course, a great K-Os performance for a couple of hours.  Overall a great day in music for everyone in attendance, and for anyone that made it out to one of his later tour dates.

All in all, K-Os did a wonderful job with this album.  There was clearly a lot of time and effort put into the release, and a lot of work was put into finding new ways to reach fans.  I can only hope for the best as K-Os continues to pave new paths in the hip hop and Canadian music world.

7.5/10