By Odeisel

What happened to that hard shit? That early 90’s straight from the gutter shit? It’s a question that many people ask these days with all the fluff and hook heavy lyric light music. Synths drive the rhythms now, not lows and drums. While some just ask because they are stuck in the past and can’t evolve, there is something to be said about just having that rap that isn’t concerned with branding and all kinds of stuff that have nothing to do with beats and rhymes. Group Triboro has decided to do something about that with their song “To Be Nice.”

The video has a dark, gritty feel to it, filmed in a filthy house that you wouldn’t take a glass of water in a paper cup to drink. Random light sources only serve to accentuate the darkness, bringing brief reprieves that only briefly illuminate the faces of the group. A bit of Kubrik device is sprinkled in as the entire episode whimsically never happened.

The beat is bassline and drum driven, with an intro flaunted by soft strings and tip toeing keys. Chilling wails run intermittently throughout the track, shifting mood from somber to spooky, recalling all those 90s vids where someone is being chased through the hood (or the forest) by a pack of wild dudes.

The crew delivers rhymes straight from the era, which is both good and bad. They handle the track in the way you expect and if you miss that era, you’ve probably creaming your panties. The problem is that we’ve got 20 years of advancement and evolution since the early 90s and there are different ways to handle those beats. The rhymes fit, but there is nothing dazzling that reflects how far we have advanced as an artform.

But maybe that’s the point. No one want sto be left behind and not all the advancements have been for the better. What Triboro has done with “To Be Nice” is craft authentic music that recalls that era but isn’t necessarily trapped in it. While it is contemporary for that time, it doesn’t feel aged or trapped in it like many of the “back to the essence” raps that people try to pull off. Their flow isn’t awkward and it sounds good. Looking forward to seeing more. And that’s not just to be nice.

[pro-player width=’425′ height=’344′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-zN6VN0R9Q[/pro-player]

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