With this track, “Buried at Sea,” by musician and rapper Aye Dawg, upfront vocals, and creative bar structuring help inject a new level of intention to the alternative hip hop scene.
Aye Dawg grew up in Long Island, New York, and grew up liking hip hop. He now simply enjoys making it. He releases a song for each phase of his life, with one in between.
The album includes a straightforward hip-hop chorus, an entertaining yet clean soundtrack, and an expressive vocal lead from the singer himself. The first stanza is filled with details and story-telling – there are noticeable references and consistency throughout the bars.
But as the song progresses, a more freewheeling vibe takes over – and Aye Dawg stays tight to the natural flow of the music, his vocal rhythm never dipping below par.
The nearly three-and-a-half-minute release crams a lot of data and parts of the artist’s life into its journey. Meanwhile, this pretty well-crafted yet uncomplicated beat wraps its hypnotic and skillfully constructed aura around you in an engaging manner.
Simply told, “Buried at Sea” is an anthem; it doesn’t reveal too much of the artist’s personal reality or experience, but it draws you in for its mood and aim, and those elements tend to come later. It will be exciting to see where the music takes him next.
The music is surprisingly engaging in the sense that it draws on both classic and contemporary elements, and the fragments truly help bring something all the more warming and hopeful to the mix – broadening its scope to a daring degree.
It’s not simple music or phrases, but the lyrical and philosophical content is quite invigorating right now. It’s definitely worth a few listens.