Count Bass D & Insight: RiskTakers (2011)

This is a pretty great album after 3-4 spins.

I'm not familiar with either of these artists. I would say that what makes this album is the combination of Insight's mic work and D's production. This would probably be obvious to anyone who already knows anything about either of them.

Insight has a great energy to his delivery, often using vocal pitch to create a subtle musical bounce to his lyrics. It's just plain fun listening to him rap.

Count Bass D brings a very original soundscape. I'm reluctant to draw comparisons, because I feel the music on RiskTakers is truly unto its own. I have seen D aligned with Moka Only, Madlib, Doom... I can't really argue that similarities exist.

On this particular album, he does better than just sounding 'different', he clearly is drawing from the old school. RiskTakers is peppered with, but never dominated by, b-boy drum patterns and turntables.

As for the cons... Count Bass D should respect his shortcomings as an emcee. Don't get me wrong, a few of his verses are successful in their own, sleepy, way. But this album would've benefited if he'd left out the majority of his ramblings. I will also say there're a couple tracks that just do nothing for me.

All in all this is one of the best albums I've heard this year (it might seem that I say that a lot but I just don't mention shit I don't like)... definitely the most creative. I easily rate RiskTakers 4/5 with optimism that it will only get better with more spins.

Hmm... Insight is a beast and CBD is dope on the boards. I will look into this

Shaun wrote:

Hmm... Insight is a beast and CBD is dope on the boards. I will look into this

As will I.

damn i love CBD on the boards and mic...Dwight Spitz is classic

Hey mayne...I was very pleased with the first few spins of this. The beats are all dope as fuck except Seem Phoney and Leverage of Combat, the only two songs I couldn't get into. The latter of which was really disappointing since I was looking forward to the Kool Keith feature. Insight def did his thang on the mic and I didn't have any problems with CBD either. I can kinda dig what Parker was saying about these beats being more than just "different". They are unique but familiar at the same time. Kinda like a new version of something we may have heard back in the day...if that makes sense...man, just cop it and see. I too, think 4.0 is good rating for now.

Standouts:

Risk Taker
Seize the Moment
Dinner Is Served
Second Ambush>>>>>>>