Analyrical – First Date

by Brett Reese

Sometime victor of national rap battleground “Grind Time,” Eau Claire Battle Champion, one of the founding members of the Background Noise Crew and 2009’s Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards’ “Best Kept Secret” are all notches in local rap star Analyrical’s belt. And he’s about to add one more: first solo album. With a title like First Date, you can bet Analyrical will be taking us out for than just dinner and a show.

To compare Analyrical’s First Date to an album by say, Eminem, wouldn’t be fair. Eminem can only manage one or two good songs per album. Most of the songs on First Date on the other hand, could easily find their way into my rotation. The strongest component First Date's songs is by far the music. From the standard rap style in “Sky Is Burning,” “Tick-Tick” and my favorite track, “Cruisin’” to the deeper electronica of “Pre-Game” and pensive tones of “Poet Laureate” and “More Than.” First Date pulls off a wide variety of styles, yet has a cohesive feel to it.

A couple of general observations about style. There was one point where I was listening to my album shuffle, and I heard “Sky is Burning” from First Date. I had to check to see what the name of the song was, as I had been listening to the Gorillaz prior to this album. “Sky” came on, and I seriously thought I heard Damon Albarn’s 2-D character singing background. The rest of the album has some similarities to the BNC Everybody Does This but stretches into many other styles. Stylistically both in terms of rap and music, it's as if someone has pieced together Royksopp, Eminem, Ludacris and Sir Mix-a-Lot. Seriously. Analyrical’s flow and sometimes background music has a style, confidence and playfulness that somehow seems like a functional mélange of these styles and more. This lends the album accesiblity and makes it enjoyable.

As far as lyrics go, it’s easy to see how Analyrical’s been able to hold his own when battling. There’s no hint of hesitation in any of his rhymes. He has some fascinating lyrical choices, such as a very descriptive and erotic song in "The Panther" and some Star Wars references elsewhere. The words “Padawan” and “Jedi Knight” are always a nice surprise, though it has been done before. The variety in the vocabulary is also pretty diverse as well, and thankfully not too far into GMAT territory.

First Date appears to be a good foundation for a relationship with Analyrical’s music. Strong music and concrete rhymes make for an album that I can listen to all the way through and also makes for an album that should appeal to a wide audience. If you’re a fan of any of the above mainstream artists it’s worth checking out. It’s not an exact match by any means, but the comparison is close enough.

Analyrical has made a name for himself by opening for other local stars: Brother Ali, Tech N9ne and Big Quarters. First Date comes out on December 15 and will be followed by a CD release party on December 19.