Hip-Hop | Terence Ryan — See About A Dream [EP]

Posted by jeffwbaird on April 6, 2013

For a genre in which so much music is produced daily, there are far, far too few innovators involved. Far too few artists who still use it as a means of expressing genuine emotion and ideas, like the way it was conceived. As Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine once put it (I know, odd reference), “there’s a corner of the human experience neglected in pop music,” and I see this becoming more consistently true as hip-hop and pop integrate. I first was introduced to Terence Ryan’s music through his last EP, Skeleton, which drew my attention primarily because of the absorbing, downtempo production, but also because there was something so authentic and distinctive about his rapping on songs like “Alan’s Right” that I was immediately hooked. It’s almost unfair to his talent, though, to just list him here as just a rapper. On this new record he produces every track (which encapsulates his ability to play the drums, piano, and guitar), sings, raps, and even serves as the engineer. What I find most captivating about listening to the project, though, is hearing the array of moods and styles that all contribute to his polished sound. He’s extremely well versed in different genres, which allows him to simply set out to make songs, and the influences arise organically. This is one of my favorite releases of the year thus far, and even though it’s only 8 songs, they are each so powerful and unique that it bears the weight and depth of an album. Take a listen below and get lost in his sound like I have been for the past few days. “Disappearing” is one of the best songs I’ve heard from any unsigned artist in recent memory.

[soundcloud params=”auto_play=false&show_comments=true”]https://soundcloud.com/3qtr/sets/seeaboutadreamep[/soundcloud]