Album Review: Savant-The Delayed Entry EP

Posted On: December 15, 2009
Posted By: odeisel
Comments: 2

By Odeisel

Chicago-born Savant, as an emcee, has a strong voice and is very well read. Mentions of Lancelot and allegories to the wax on the wings of Icarus hips you to the fact that he’s well travelled and at least, not your average emcee. His EP The Delayed Entry finds this son of a preacher attempting to elbow his way into a game filled with juvenile themes, no conscience, and even less skill.

The record, a compact nine song work, is a throwback to that early 90s sound, the effects of which sometimes leaves you nostalgic and at other times leaves the music with a dated feel. The production is very simple, with a sample based structure. You can almost hear the fingers tapping on the drum machine. For a rapper at the stage of career where Savant currently resides, this is charming. In order for him to advance past the “golden gloves” phase and into the pro ranks, there are some things that should be addressed.

Savant flows between the spaces in the beat rather than to the actual beats; filling in gaps rather than riding the horse. While this allows space for rapper and beat, it doesn’t do much for the union necessary for superior music.

His vocabulary is more than adequate, and his voice is strong but it’s a bit rigid. If he learns how to move his voice to convey different emotions and learns how to control his speed in order to give his words time to simmer, he will go much further towards making a leap as an emcee.

The album opens with “The Lyricist,” an aggressive song that finds Savant firing shots at emcees and staking his claim as, you guessed it, a lyricist. The production switches three times, as does his flow, with the middle change being perhaps the best. Had he chosen the intro sample for one of his verses, the song would have been much better. Solid.

“Illest You’ve Ever Heard” is another case of the lead-in sample being better than the actual beat. He’s also doing too much on the song. The beat ebbs and flows but as a rapper, he’s really in cruise control on the song, not dropping or rising with the mood of the beat. He does have a sense of history and his lyrics on this are dope, but his delivery fails him on this one as he doesn’t pay enough attention to movement.

“Concrete Techniques” features a solid beat backdrop. His pacing is an issue as he’s getting too far ahead of himself flow-wise. His lines roll over each other. In my opinion, he should give himself space to finish his syllables and give the audience time to digest what he has to says. It’s not necessarily the speed of the verse but the construction and the delivery that causes the collision. Plus it gives the idea that you are just spitting or snapping off without a definitive purpose. The mixing also throws you off as they move his voice from left to right which throws the feel off. That said, it’s not a bad song and it moves very fast. It just could have been better.

“You Know” is perhaps the most ready for prime time song on the disc, with well placed cutting and scratching, and solid performances by guest artists Rich Jones and Kasparov allowing Savant to get out of fast mode and chill out. The production lends itself to a slower flow but again Savant is going perhaps too fast. “Bottom To The Top” finds Savant in chill mode again and I really think the slower speed works better for him than the overly aggressive pace he displays on earlier songs. The production is a bit amateurish, but again, not trash, just raw.

Savant raps about adult themes; not adult as in sex but adult as in grown up and living life. On “Til Death Do Us Part,” he broaches the fear of commitment from both the male and the female perspective. It’s a really solid concept song that broaches both sides without the corny overrun Bonnie/Clyde dynamic. He actually attempts to find a solution to our disparate views. Good luck on that, but pretty dope.

The EP closes out with “Marry A Memory” which finds Savant musing over a lost love and flexing much more songwriting skill than elsewhere on the disk over solid production that has more layered production, and “Perfect Profession” which finds him discussing why he chose to rap. The song offers his parents’ opinions on him getting into the game. A good look on who he is as a person without added melodrama.

The EP definitely picks up quality as you listen. Savant as a rapper has work to do, and his producers have a lot of things to work on, but they have love and talent, two items that are not necessarily in abundance these days. In a world where the cool thing for rappers to say is that “I’m not a rapper,” Savant stands proud to be an emcee. That’s to be commended. Here’s hoping that he hones his craft ad sticks to the game.

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