Wordsworth has been in my music registry since he was on Black Star's "Twice Inna Lifetime" and killed it saying words like "Sony or Aiwa, black or white, I'll let you fit into stereotypes".   Now after doing work on a lot of Rawkus projects and doing the ill-fated Lyricist Lounge TV Show on MTV in the late nineties he now reappears on the scene with Mirror Music on Halftooth Records.   Was Wordsworth a one hit wonder or is it just his beginning? Check out the review and draw your own conclusion.

Words grabs your attention on the opening track "Right Now" produced by Ayatollah.   The tracks chorus is grabbing and Word talks about what he needs and doesn't need to do in an immediate fashion.

"What We Gon' Do" is a political and life track produced by DJ Static.   Words talks about neighborhood problems and what we have to do to get things better.

"Twelve Months" is a slow down track and Words breaks down how a year can be a long or short time depending on what happens and how you react. Da Beatminerz did their thing on the beat and Adanita Ross added some background vocals as well.

"Trust"   is about different scenarios where having trust is important and "Be A Man" is about (obviously) what it takes to be and make a man.   "Be A Man" is important song for the fellas to listen to because it is tough to raise children in single parent homes especially for the ladies no matter how proud they are.   They need men to be a strong presence in the home.  

"Not Fair" brings together the nice duo of Words and Punchline as they talk about the music business and other situations that are not fair. It leads nicely into "One Day", a song about what goes on in most people daily life especially when raising a child and working daily.   The beat (done by Frequency) has a Afro-Rican bridge and overall this is a nice carried out song.

"Gotta Pay" is a tougher song with Words talking about those rappers who have to pay a tax for being wack lyrically on the microphone.   The song uses a catchy chorus to grab you then breakdown the problems in the rap game these days.

Other songs to listen to are "Shoulder", "Evol" featuring Masta Ace and Justine Time, The slowed paced but quick tongued "Fast Lane", "Run" and "Unity".

This LP is a pleasant surprise as Wordsworth uses his conceptual skills with multiple beats styles and great subject matter to make an album that mirrors a lot of what we go through in life. While it gets a little hairy middle of the album for a couple of songs it picks back up after and the beats and rhymes pick back up.   In fact the worst songs he has on the album were the collaborative efforts.  

I'll give Mirror Music gets 4 GeoGlobes. Now he has to get the exposure!

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Any comments, suggestions, questions email Clayton at clayton@geoclan.com.

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