Speak Life

Last updated
Speak Life
Speak Life.jpg
Studio album by
Sev Statik
ReleasedNovember 9, 2002
Recorded1999–2001
Genre Christian hip hop, East Coast hip hop
Length63:59
Label UpRok, EMI
Producer Dave Santos, Dert, DJ Cheapshot, DJ N8 da Great, Peace 586
Sev Statik chronology
Severed Remaynz
(2002)		Speak Life
(2002)		 Nephilim: Act of God 1
(2003)

Speak Life is the debut studio album by Albany, New York-based hip hop musician Sev Statik, released on November 9, 2002, through Uprok Records. While Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans, had released a previous studio album, Altered State , in 2001 under the moniker "Stu Dent", Speak Life is considered his debut. Sev Statik had recently joined to the hip hop collective Tunnel Rats, and the release features several artists from that group. It also features Listener from Deepspace5, another collective of which Sev Statik is part. Speak Life marks the debut appearance of Propaganda, who would join Tunnel Rats the following year. [1] The album garnered a mixed response from critics, receiving praise for its positive lyrics, East Coast sound and use of sampling, but criticized for its lack of innovation and inconsistency in overall quality.

Contents

Background, recording, and release

Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans, began performing hip hop music in the Albany area during the early 1990s. From 1993 through 1996, he recorded and performed with the group Master Plan. [2] Following that group's dissolution, he released two EPs. [2] In 1997, he formed the supergroup Deepspace5 with Manchild, Recon, Sintax the Terrific, and Listener. [2] That same year, he also joined the Los Angeles-based collective Tunnel Rats.

Evans began recording material for Speak Life in 1999, but had to abandon the project due to conflicts he and Tunnel Rats had with their label. Evans also had made an agreement with Tunnel Rats not to release any material as "Sev Statik" until after Tunnel Rats released its next studio album. [3] Instead of Speak Life, he recorded a different album, Altered State , under the name Stu Dent, and released that in 2001. [3] The same year, Tunnel Rats released Tunnel Vision . Evans then re-recorded Speak Life from scratch. He explained later that he "would've just used the lyrics from the last album, but I didn't keep any of the raps or get a chance to memorize any songs. It was such a short time to do the record I would read the lyrics out my notebook as I recorded." [2] The resulting debut album was released in 2002 through Uprok Records and EMI. [4] [5] Evans has expressed some disappointment with the final song selection as decided on by the label, but concedes that the release did increase his national exposure, and that he got to work with some of the "freshest" producers. [2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Cross Rhythms Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
RapReviews.com6.5/10 [7]

Speak Life met with a mixed critical reception. RapReviews.com rated the album six-point-five out of ten, praising the positive message of the lyrics and the well-balanced mix of upbeat and meditative tracks. [7] However, the website found that Sev Statik comes across as "too self-centered without revealing much about its author", and that some songs – Da Pointman", "Rock of Ages", and "Global" – did not match up to the quality of the rest of the album. [7] Cross Rhythms rated the album six out of ten, praising the "cross section of sounds ranging from earthy, sample-based, rugged, east coast, clubbin', abstract and weird" and Sev Statik's sensitive and insightful take on spiritual and social problems, but also criticizing the album for inconsistency and a lack of depth. [6]

Jon Corbin of cMusicWeb was generally favorable to the album, though noted some flaws. He gave high praise to the varied production on the album, and noted that while a solo project, Speak Life still has a very strong Tunnel Rats feel. [8] He also praised Sev Statik's lyrics, which address topics such as hip hop culture and contemporary politics. [8] However, Corbin also felt that more members from Deepspace5 should have contributed to the album, and that the hooks to several songs were weak. [8] Gospel Flava was positive overall, noting Speak Life's sonic range from "earthy, sample-based" tracks to East Coast-style tune, and concluding that on Speak Life, Sev Statik "steps into something new, defying the law of gravity with slow motion, high flying verbal acrobatics." [9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro"  1:01
2."All for a Purpose"Donald BakerDert3:56
3."Warning" (featuring Dokument, Propaganda, and Raphi) Jason Petty, David Silva SantosDave Santos3:24
4."Over the Influence"Colton FisherDJ Cheapshot4:12
5."Da Pointman"BakerDert4:06
6."Meds"Rene Vasquez Peace 586 3:45
7."Disappear"SantosDave Santos1:41
8."Speak Life" (featuring Dax )Baker, Dax ReynosaDert3:36
9."I Apologize" (featuring Listener )SantosDave Santos3:54
10."Poor Penmenship"BakerDert3:43
11."Seasons of a Tear" (featuring Elsie and Zane One )BakerDert4:15
12."Statik Interlude" (performed by DJ N8 da Great) DJ N8 da Great0:44
13."Right Now" (featuring Macho and Raphi)Baker, Rosario "Macho" OrtegaDert3:28
14."Rock of Ages" (featuring Raphi)BakerDert3:51
15."End Up" (featuring Macho and Raphi)Baker, OrtegaDert3:21
16."Invisible Bars"SantosDave Santos3:23
17."Close"FisherDJ Cheapshot4:24
18."Global" (featuring LPG )Baker, ReynosaDert3:41
19."MIC"BakerDert3:34

Related Research Articles

Mars Ill is an emcee/DJ hip-hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of Gregory Owens (Manchild) and Nathan Corrona. They are also part of the hip-hop collective and supergroup Deepspace5.

Deepspace5 is an underground hip hop supergroup formed in 1997 and currently composed of Beat Rabbi, Manwell?, Freddie Bruno, Listener, Mars ILL, Playdough, Sintax.the.Terrific, Sivion, and Sev Statik. Deepspace5 also previously included Illtripp and The Recon. Since its formation, the collective has sold over 100,000 copies of its recordings, and has performed with KRS-One, Atmosphere, and MF Doom, among others.

<i>Raw Material</i> (album) 2000 studio album by Mars Ill

Raw Material. is a Mars Ill album released in 2000, on Sphere of Hip Hop Records.

David Frederick Washington, who goes by the stage name Freddie Bruno, is an American Christian hip hop musician and member of the hip hop collective, Deepspace5. He has released two noteworthy studio albums, The Ballpoint Composer in 2002 on Uprok Records, and Hold Music on Illect Recordings, in 2007.

Joseph T. Evans, known professionally as Sev Statik and Stu Dent, is a hip hop musician and promoter from Albany, New York. Active as a rapper since the early 1990s, he has performed and recorded both as a solo artist and as a member of the hip hop collectives Deepspace5 and Tunnel Rats. Evans has also been a member of various Albany-area hip hop groups, including All Bully, Master Plan, Body Language, currently fronts the rap rock band Goldtooth, and is active in Pitch Control Music, a musical collective and arts movement he co-founded in order to promote and develop hip hop in the Albany area. Evans is a freemason in East Greenbush, New York.

Rene Vasquez, known by the stage name Peace 586, is an American Christian hip hop producer and emcee. His career began in the late 1980s, and has continued until the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propaganda (musician)</span> Musical artist

Jason Emmanuel Petty , better known by his stage name Propaganda, is an American Christian rapper, spoken word artist, and poet from Los Angeles, California. He has released seven albums as an independent artist, including one collaborative album with Odd Thomas and one with Derek Minor, and has performed and recorded as a member of the underground hip hop group Tunnel Rats and associated act Footsoldiers.

Tunnel Rats is a West Coast underground hip hop collective founded in 1993 in Whittier, California. Named after the tunnel rats in the Vietnam War, the mixed-gender, multi-racial collective consists of some seventeen individual members and incorporates four affiliated groups, LPG, Future Shock, Foundation, and New Breed, which have recorded both within Tunnel Rats and independently. Several members also formed two additional side-projects, Footsoldiers and The Resistance, which recorded one album in 2006 and collaborated with KRS-One. Pioneers in the Christian hip hop genre, Tunnel Rats often met with resistance from church leaders who disliked the collective's aggressive style and felt that Tunnel Rats praised their rapping skills more than glorifying God.

<i>Tunnel Vision</i> (album) 2001 studio album by Tunnel Rats

Tunnel Vision is the second studio album by West Coast underground hip hop collective Tunnel Rats, released on October 25, 2001, through Uprok Records. Featuring a brash, aggressive sound, the album drew admiration from critics and proved highly influential for the Christian hip hop movement.

<i>Underground Rise, Volume 1: Sunrise/Sunset</i> 2003 compilation album by Tunnel Rats and Various Artists

Tunnel Rats Present... Underground Rise, Volume 1: Sunrise/Sunset is a 2003 compilation album by Uprok Records in collaboration with underground hip hop collective Tunnel Rats. Around thirty-five rappers appear on the compilation, which features, in addition to the Tunnel Rats, numerous other underground hip hop artists and groups, Christian and non-Christian, including LA Symphony, LMNO and 2Mex of The Visionaries, Remnant, Mass Reality, Sekou the Misfit, and Deepspace5 members Playdough, manCHILD of Mars Ill, and Listener. Production was handled by Tunnel Rats members Dert, Donovan Luke Henry, Jermz and Raphi. Most of the album was recorded over a single weekend. CCM Magazine noted that on the song "One Voice", the entire Tunnel Rats and LA Symphony crews come together, with seventeen rappers appearing on the same track. Critics received the album well, noting that, it offered a diversity of musical styles and showcased the many talented artists in the underground and Christian hip hop scenes.

<i>Tunnel Rats</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Tunnel Rats

Tunnel Rats is the third studio album by West Coast underground Christian hip hop collective Tunnel Rats, released on March 3, 2004, through Uprok Records. Featuring several new members among the group's ranks, the album was well received by critics, with Christianity Today and Rapzilla considering it the best album so far by the group.

New Breed is a Christian Latin hip hop duo from Boston, Massachusetts, consisting of brother and sister Rosario "Macho" and Elsie Ortega. An affiliate of the underground hip hop collective Tunnel Rats, the duo has recorded and toured both as part of the Tunnel Rats and independently. After joining the Tunnel Rats in 1998, New Breed appeared on the DJ Maj mixtape Full Plates with the song "What's My Name" in 2001, and later that year on the Tunnel Rats album Tunnel Vision. The duo released its first album, Stop the Music, in 2002, and then appeared on the Tunnel Rats albums Underground Rise, Volume 1 in 2003 and Tunnel Rats in 2004. A second album from New Breed, Nine, came out in 2004.

The discography of Propaganda, an American Christian hip hop and spoken word artist and poet from Los Angeles, California, consists of five studio albums, two EPs, twelve compilation appearances, eleven music videos, including one as a featured performer, and twenty-three guest appearances.

Dax Reynosa, often mononymously known as Dax and by the former stage name Theory, is an American underground hip hop artist, producer, songwriter, smooth jazz singer, and music manager from Whittier, California. As a hip hop artist, he co-founded the underground Christian hip hop collective Tunnel Rats and the affiliated groups LPG, Footsoldiers, and The Resistance. He also co-founded the Latin funk and R&B band Elé and formed The Dax Band. He has contributed vocals and songwriting to numerous jazz recordings.

<i>The Night We Called It a Day</i> (album) 2002 studio album by Deepspace5

The Night We Called It a Day is the debut studio album by underground hip hop supergroup Deepspace5, released on January 8, 2002, through Uprok Records. It was recorded in Dallas, Texas.

Daniel Josev Brewer, who goes by the stage name Sintax the Terrific, sometimes stylized as Sintax.the.Terrific or simply Sintax, is an American Christian hip hop musician and a founding member of both The Pride and the supergroup collective, Deepspace5. Brewer is also a practicing attorney in Columbia, South Carolina. He has released three studio albums through Illect Recordings – Simple Moves (2003), Curb Appeal (2007), and Prince with a Thousand Enemies with DJ Kurfu (2011) – and two studio albums, Qoheleth with Beat Rabbi (2010) and The Last Unicorn with Sir Chamberlain (2015), independently. Brewer, originally under the moniker ipoetlaurate and later The Press Junket, runs a blog for which he writes articles and composes songs discussing current social and political events. He released three compilation albums containing these songs in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

<i>Slow Burn</i> (Sev Statik album) 2005 studio album by Sev Statik

Slow Burn is a studio album by Albany, New York hip hop musician Sev Statik, released on March 7, 2005 through his own independent label Pointman Music, in association with Pitch Control Music. While Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans, had also released two albums under the name Stu Dent, Slow Burn is his second studio album under the Sev Statik moniker, following up on 2002's Speak Life. The album met with a mixed critical reception.

<i>Altered State</i> (Stu Dent album) 2001 studio album by Stu Dent

Altered State is the first studio album by Albany, New York hip hop musician Stu Dent, better known by the moniker Sev Statik. Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans, created the Stu Dent pseudonym due to contractual obligations with Tunnel Rats, a group of which he was a member at the time. Evans' debut studio album as Sev Statik, Speak Life, would be released in 2002. Altered State features guest appearances by, among others, members of Tunnel Rats, All Bully, and Deepspace5, all of which Evans was a member. The album was released on October 2, 2001, through Deepspace5 Recordings, and was received modestly by critics.

<i>Nephilim: Act of God 1</i> 2003 studio album by Stu Dent

Nephilim: Act of God 1 is the second studio album by hip hop musician Stu Dent, released November 14, 2003 through Illect Recordings. Stu Dent is an alternate moniker for Albany, New York artist Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans. Evans originally created the Stu Dent pseudonym in order to release the album Altered State in 2001 without breaking his contractual obligations with Tunnel Rats, a hip hop musical collective of which he is part. Nephilim follows up on Altered State and the 2002 Sev Statik release Speak Life. The album includes production from Beat Rabbi and Freddie Bruno, fellow members of Deepspace5, a group Evans co-founded, and production and a guest appearance by JB!!, also known as Dirty Moses, a member of All Bully, another group that Evans helped found. Nephilim met with a highly positive reception from critics.

<i>Back to Dust</i> 2007 album by Sev Statik and DJ Dust

Back to Dust is a studio album by Albany, New York-based rapper Sev Statik and Atlanta-based producer DJ Dust, originally released on October 9, 2007, through Rawkus Records. It was the fourth studio release by Sev Statik and the second studio release for DJ Dust. Back to Dust features numerous guest appearances, including Manchild and Playdough of Deepspace5, Theory Hazit, Supastition, LMNO of The Visionaries, and Raphi, Griffin, and Triune of Tunnel Rats. The album was selected by Rawkus for inclusion in its "Rawkus 50" promotional campaign, and was released as a digital download. A physical version of the album was released on July 7, 2008, through Braille's Hip Hop IS Music label. Back to Dust met with critical acclaim. In 2010, Theory Hazit released a remixed version of the album.

References

  1. ↑ Farias, Andree (June 1, 2003). "Out of Knowhere". Crosswalk.com . Salem Web Network . Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Heinzelman, Bill "Low Key" (May 2005). "MVRemix Interviews – Sev Statik". MVRemix. MVRemix Media. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  3. 1 2 DJ Fisher (2002). "sev statik – catacomb rodent – interview". Urban Smarts. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Solo Debut". Cross Rhythms (73). March 1, 2003. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  5. ↑ McElhiney, Brian (August 8, 2013). "Statik boosts hip-hop musicians". The Daily Gazette . Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Sutherland, T A (January 6, 2003). "Review: Sev Statik – Speak Life". Cross Rhythms (73). Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Jost, Matt (April 11, 2003). "Sev Statik :: Speak Life :: Uprok Records". RapReviews.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Corbin, Jon (December 2002). "cMusicWeb.com: Speak Life". cMusicWeb. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Ingram, Brenda M. II (2002). "Sev Statik – Speak Life". Gospel Flava.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.