D-Pryde - Album of the Week: Flagship
So like I said, this month I'm intending to make things a bit more musical. I'm starting with discussing one of the newer artists I discovered on YouTube late last year, D-Pryde. An 18 year old artist from Canada, he's easily one of the most popular rappers on YouTube and also one of the most developed, with dozens of videos both rapping solo and with other artists, and with the release of Flagship June 3rd, two mixtapes under his belt.
D-Pryde's sophomore effort is a fairly solid effort from a young artist. While far from perfect, he easily jumps over some of the missteps that can lead to a boring release from an "underground" artist. For starters, there isn't a track on here that doesn't have a dope beat to listen to. The song above, Mobbin', wouldn't be out of place is most clubs. A lot of underground artists end up picking "real hip-hop" beats with the idea of going against the grain or whatever, not realizing the fact that the reason why major artists don't use those is because they're boring as fuck. Not a problem here, even the more somber tracks have an enjoyable beat to bump to.
Second, the tireless work effort shows in his ability to cultivate a large following. With him constantly touring and new songs posted every couple weeks, he's managed to avoid the "why haven't I blown up yet" disease that affects many young rappers on YouTube who post a few songs and wonder why they aren't signed yet.
Lastly, he's not afraid to appeal to the ladies. There's no such thing as a rapper who's made it big without a large female following (on the contrary, a lot of rappers these days only make it big BECAUSE of their female fans), so there's definitely nothing wrong with having more than a couple tracks on your album devoted to women. Luckily, both "Mistress" and "Bottom Dollar" are two genuinely good tracks that even dudes can bump without feeling ashamed. As someone else put it, the first time I played Bottom Dollar it was kinda "-_-", the second playthrough was a "Hmmm...", and the third I was singing, "Well hello and hi there...."
The only problems I have with this guy are the somewhat cartoonish lengths he's going to avoid dropping "s" and "F" bombs along with the fact that he felt the need to explain away one of his dopest verses ever (and probably one of my favorite verses in a cypher, ever), and the fact that sometimes his lyrics aren't always the most solid on some of the party/club tracks, even if he's got his production and flow down pat.
But neither of these problems is going to stop me from giving the guy the props he deserves. With him getting radio play from "Mistress", a decent sized fanbase for an artist who's signed to an indy label, and his second mixtape getting over 60,000 downloads within the first week of being released, there's very little that can stop this guy. He's only 18, so there's a TON of room for him to grow, which is scary when you consider songs like Palisades Parkway Flow:
In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next from this guy. With this much talent and a great ear for what makes popular rap music, pretty much the only thing that can stop this guy at this point is himself. You can get D-Pryde's Flagship at DatPiff. Enjoy.
D-Pryde's sophomore effort is a fairly solid effort from a young artist. While far from perfect, he easily jumps over some of the missteps that can lead to a boring release from an "underground" artist. For starters, there isn't a track on here that doesn't have a dope beat to listen to. The song above, Mobbin', wouldn't be out of place is most clubs. A lot of underground artists end up picking "real hip-hop" beats with the idea of going against the grain or whatever, not realizing the fact that the reason why major artists don't use those is because they're boring as fuck. Not a problem here, even the more somber tracks have an enjoyable beat to bump to.
Second, the tireless work effort shows in his ability to cultivate a large following. With him constantly touring and new songs posted every couple weeks, he's managed to avoid the "why haven't I blown up yet" disease that affects many young rappers on YouTube who post a few songs and wonder why they aren't signed yet.
Lastly, he's not afraid to appeal to the ladies. There's no such thing as a rapper who's made it big without a large female following (on the contrary, a lot of rappers these days only make it big BECAUSE of their female fans), so there's definitely nothing wrong with having more than a couple tracks on your album devoted to women. Luckily, both "Mistress" and "Bottom Dollar" are two genuinely good tracks that even dudes can bump without feeling ashamed. As someone else put it, the first time I played Bottom Dollar it was kinda "-_-", the second playthrough was a "Hmmm...", and the third I was singing, "Well hello and hi there...."
The only problems I have with this guy are the somewhat cartoonish lengths he's going to avoid dropping "s" and "F" bombs along with the fact that he felt the need to explain away one of his dopest verses ever (and probably one of my favorite verses in a cypher, ever), and the fact that sometimes his lyrics aren't always the most solid on some of the party/club tracks, even if he's got his production and flow down pat.
But neither of these problems is going to stop me from giving the guy the props he deserves. With him getting radio play from "Mistress", a decent sized fanbase for an artist who's signed to an indy label, and his second mixtape getting over 60,000 downloads within the first week of being released, there's very little that can stop this guy. He's only 18, so there's a TON of room for him to grow, which is scary when you consider songs like Palisades Parkway Flow:
In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next from this guy. With this much talent and a great ear for what makes popular rap music, pretty much the only thing that can stop this guy at this point is himself. You can get D-Pryde's Flagship at DatPiff. Enjoy.
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