G-Side - The One...Cohesive Album Review

Artist: G-Side
Album: The One…Cohesive
Label: Slow Motion Sounds Records
Executive Producers: Codie G. & Block Beataz
Review by: Josh Boutwell

It was 5 years ago when I first heard my very first G-Side song, “Alpine Tick” from their first album, “Something 2 Hate.” From then on I couldn’t get enough from the Huntsville, Alabama duo and after that debut they released two more classics with 2008’s “Starships & Rockets” and 2009’s “Huntsville International.” Now, with international exposure overseas as well as growing exposure in America both on the internet and in the streets and after side projects from both members ST 2 Lettaz (his side group DB49) and Yung Clova (his first solo mixtape, “The Koolest Kid”) in 2010, G-Side has unleashed their 4^th LP entitled “The One…Cohesive” at the top of 2011. G-Side and Slow Motion Sounds head honcho, Codie G., took on a very unique strategy of promoting the album. Instead of leaking actual songs from the album or even releasing a single they leaked art work (created by the great painter John Turner Jr.) and released tracks that DIDN’T make the album. It’s a very unique way to try marketing and to be honest, it definitely worked for me as I had been anticipating this project since the very first “1.1.11” teaser trailer last year. The group sent Twitter on fire a few days before the release as Codie G. finally leaked a track from the album, “Nat Geo.”

The album opens up with “Shots Fired” as Codie G. discusses the history of G-Side over a Block Beataz instrument before ST 2 Lettaz slides in and sets the tone for the rest of the album with a blazing verse that sums up the history of G-Side & Slo Mo with lines like:

“we went from ‘Lacs & Prices’ to ‘headlining the hood’/
10 years in the game, the little label that could/
Trill shit is required for my entire empire/
Acquire what we desire ‘cause are gwap is Goliath!”

“The One” then moves into what sounds like the conductor of a symphony stepping up to his podium, coughing, and then tapping the podium and finally moving right into “Came Up” which is boasted by some incredible strings crafted by the Block Beataz. The stop and start thumping beat is met with matching stop and start flows by both members of G-Side and Slo Mo newcomer Femcee S.L.A.S.H. who turns heads with her verse:

“we all grind, we all eat/
we up late, don’t sleep/
insomniacs, zombies at the crack of don/
tryin to write a classic song/”

The trio go back and forth speaking on the struggle as they try to come up to the top in the music game. The amazing instrumentation doesn’t stop here, in fact it doesn’t even slow down. Producer ATX laces the next song, “Y U Mad”, with some of the most amazing keys (as well as some nice guitar riffs) you will ever here on a rap song. Those keys set the tempo for the song and then ST spits one of the verses he will most certainly drop on his next “Highlight” mixtape as he not only kicks witty and uplifting lyrics, his flow perfectly flows over the song like the Rolling Tide (Alabama) he represents. ST’s DB49 brethren, Kristmas, joins he and Clova as they talk about going the legal route and choosing to do positive things with their talent rather then going the other way and they ask the “jealous niggas Y U MAD?!” G-Side fans should remember singer, P.H., from “Huntsville International’s” song “This Grove.” On “I’m Sorry” Clova, especially, shines as he is his “swagged out” best boasting and bragging over the A-Team produced track and the two sarcastically tell the haters “I’m Sorry.” Next up on our ride down the road to “The One” is “Inner Circle” featuring CP from the super producers Block Beataz. ST spits some of my favorite lines right off bat:

“so now the critics wanna’ be comparing us to OutKast/
It’s funny because they treat us like some outcasts/
cast away to some rap game Alcatraz/
then they let these fruity niggas represent the south bad/
well excuse me Mr. Executive, I’m from Alabama/
that’s probably why my music isn’t quote, unquote, Atlanta/”

Not only is it because he spits so much truth in those few lines of his verse but it’s also the way he flipped the OutKast comparison, which I myself have made before. Clova then speeds up his flow a bit as he spits another dope verse name dropping several of the Slow Motion Sounds affiliates. Next up former South P.A.W. member (and recently incarcerated, FREE BIG POPE!), Big P.O.P.E., joins in for G-Side’s ode to the streets, “Jones.” Block Beataz introduce some incredibly thumping drums as ST proclaims that “crooked letter could never severe my street side/imma’ be gutta’ forever, nigga, that’s G-Side!” and then P.O.P.E. flexes his street muscle: “deep in my veins, deep in my pores is the Yay.” Next on the deck is the amazing “Nat Geo” featuring crooner Chris Lee on the hook. Give the Block Beataz a song and dare them to flip it into a rap track, they’ll do it as they do so with an Enya track here! Both ST and Clova kick motivational bars throughout:

Clova:
“I’m in the jungle dreaming, eyes open/
rethink the impossible, so I stop hoping/
when I was in school they used to call me ‘day dreamer’/
actuality, turned a dream into a Beamer!”

ST:
“it seems like hustling is all I ever do/
and all I’m ever gonna’ know cause it’s all I ever knew/
prolly cause it’s all that ever mattered/
trying to prove I can get up this roof with no ladder/
while you waitin’ around for some shit to jump off/
i climbed up this bitch just to jump off!/
I’M SO GONE!/
wings grown, cue my theme song/”

ST also proclaims that Huntsville is “startin’ to look like a mini Memphis” which is pretty accurate. Chris Lee has garnered some hate online from folks but his crooning on this song fits so perfectly and he does his thing very well. Next up is the A-Team helmed “I Am” featuring DJ Cunta. ST & Clova reminisce over all the success they have seen the past couple of years including shows overseas and in New York while DJ Cunta kicks a great old-school dirty south hook. Next up the “Dirty South Nate Dogg” aka G. Mane joins in for “Pictures.” I don’t know that there are words to explain this beat. Block Beataz along with Clams Casino outdid themselves here while ST and Clova kick a song for the ladies. I predict many babies will be made to this one. G. Mane even kicks his own verse showing off that picture perfect voice and flow. Remember that “mini Memphis” reference ST made? Well, it definitely rears it’s head on the next track featuring Huntsvillian Mic Strange, “Never.” The song take a much more aggression tone (while not straying away from the overall sound of the album surprisingly) and sounds like it came straight out of a basement in the 90’s in Memphis. The gravelly voiced Mic Strange sets the tone about as well as one can with an extremely aggressive verse and flow exclaiming: “I’M FROM ALABAMA, YOU CAN TELL THAT WHEN I SPIT!” ST also takes this chance to showcase his more aggressive side again while also weaving around the track like Mark Ingram with a nasty flow. Clova jumps up bites the track with a sped up flow and keeps the “you’ll never mess me” tone going. Up next ST’s other DB49 brother, Bentley, joins in as Bent & G-Side show just how much they don’t give a shit whether they’re played on the radio spitting some of the most aggressive bars on the album. A distorted bassline anchors the beat produced by ATL’s DJ Burn One while Bentley and Clova snap over the track, and then ST cleans it up and takes a different approach. While Bent and Clova just spit threats and aggressive bars, ST actually took a storytellin’ type of approach taking us through a fucked up day where everything goes wrong for him and he ends it by robbing a guy at an ATM Machine. On “How Far” singers Victoria Tate and Kaylan Parham (possibly kin to CP of Block Beataz?) croon over the syrupy strings laced by Block Beataz.ST and Clova talk about the come up and how far they’ve come in this game and how far they’re going to go from here throughout.

ST:
“the revolution won’t be televised/
it’ll be on YouTube, keyword: G-Side/
accurate, Loud Pack activist/
i was rockin’ Bama fits before they won the Championship!/
told momma, I’mma go far/
from North Alabama to the north star/”

G-Side recruits Chris Lee again for the sequel to their 2009 “Money In The Sky” as Lee shines again with his crooning and ST and Clova ride the synths & keys as effortlessly as ever as they proclaim their love for money. G-Side closes out the album with a definition of “Cohesive” and then closing track “Imagine” featuring PRGz member Jhi Ali. For probably the 100^th Block Beataz flip a crazy sample and then ST just flat out shows off with an amazing verse showcasing a double-timed sped up flow. It’s hard to even keep up with the dopeness there. Jhi Ali then drops it out of nowhere and obliterates the song matching ST’s double-timed flow and matching it’s dopeness. That’s about as perfect as you can get with a closing song.

It’s hard to imagine that G-Side could truly outdo what they’ve done musically thus far in their careers but I can honestly say, with no doubt, they’ve done so. Codie G. described “The One” as an album that’s meant to be listened to all at once and the word “Cohesive” is most definitely the best way to describe the flow and overall sound of this project. Can you listen to one or two songs here and there and it remain dope? Oh yeah, but you don’t get the full affect of how truly amazing it is. Everything about this album just fits together perfectly like a puzzle from the amazing production which gives you an epic feel throughout to the guest features and down to G-Side themselves no matter what topic their discussing at a given time (and the range of topics goes from top to bottom). G-Side is here to stay and any hip hop fan can be thankful for that.