By Odeisel

The West Coast has been mashing over the last couple years. Miguel is killing the R7B set, Thurz had lat year’s album of the year with LA Riot and Kendrick Lamar could be the only thing stopping Nas from having the album of the year. This time around it’s not just SoCal having a run. The Bay Area has gotten in on the act with cats like IAmSu crushing the mixtape circuit and Erk tha Jerk dropping solid indie albums. A new cat on the scene, NioTha Gift has a solid new joint called “Chain Reaction” that takes you on a gritty tale of revenge and serves as a cautionary tale to cats on that criminal come up.

The track is produced Ekzakt and adds the perfect grim background music for this narrative. It opens to some distortion and lets go with a drum track and some understated bass that supplies the bottom but doesn’t interfere with the story. Somber deep keyed piano keys and string-driven atmospherics that build drama.

Nio tells the story of a fatherless child starving for attention lacking direction and tired of being a nobody. Bills need to be paid and he takes his life into his own hand. Nio’s narrative powers are solid and he traces the parth of his story boomerang style with action and reaction spiraling to a predictable but satisfying and morally necessary conclusion. I won’t spoil it for you.

The movement continues and the West Coast rolls along, proving that you not only need the Kobe’s and the Pauls and Griffins and Howards, but evne rookies and newcomers off the bench to keep the ball rolling. Nio’s in the corner ready for a spot up 3 pointer and “Chain Reaction” is good money.

Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill

Become a citizen of Planet Ill. Join our Forums

Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion

Follow us on Networked Blogs