Just so we’re all clear, neither of the two men on the cover of the excellent Chicago-bred hip hop EP Happy Medium are Montana Macks, but they are Jyroscope. Macks is the EP’s producer and beat maker, one of the best in the Windy City and Midwest. The men you see on the cover are the vocalists / rappers, I.B. Fokuz and Collasoul Structure.
Happy Medium is a refreshing breeze from a music world dominated by scores of rap albums that could essentially be named I’m Going to Tell You How Cool I Am for the next Forty Minutes. Happy Medium explores themes of fatherhood, practicing compassion, meditation, touring, marriage, and family.
“War Going On” is a great opener, covering stresses in relationships such as unending bills, lack of sales on the tours, and trying to hold it together the whole while (“I’m afraid what’s next will be the death of me.”). Mack’s rolling beats, accentuated with simple piano chords, are outstanding. Fokuz (“You know it’s work when you toil and you’re never content.”) and Collasoul (“Being the ‘strong one’ means you’ll never know when you’re gonna tank.”) weave intricate tales of the grind on “Work” over Mack’s melted jazz samples.
They take on the grind of not just work, but everyday life and music-making on “Auto Pilot,” with Collasoul claiming (like many of us would if we took the time to look inward), “I’m either finally mastering patience or oddly getting really good at stalling the process.” and Fokuz stating, “I feel like I’m living in a rerun.” Both men wish they could make many moments last longer on “Frozen in Time” (which has some killer scratching from DJ Seanile and some of Mack’s best sampling on the EP).
By the time we reach the closer, “Take It Easy,” the band has realized they need to just pause for a bit and reset. We all need to do this along with them. So much would fall into place if we did – better relationships, health, and society in general. We just need to follow their lead.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]
[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]