Verb. It's what you do! And what you should do is cop this album by Philadelphia rapper, Verbatum Jones. The debut EP, titled (verb.), focuses on the life and background of a fresh young voice on the up and up in Philly, a city which has become my Paris, but that's a story for another time.
(verb.) has a nice pace to it, beginning with an instrumental track, "Canus Lupis", which I would guess is derived from the Latin term for the wolf, a hungry and ambitious animal. Though wolves are wild, the beat on this track is calming, perhaps it is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'll save the rest of my analysis for English class and tell you that this track is just perfect for setting the mood for a real cool and easy listen to the whole album without really jumping from song to song. Jones' laid back tone and delivery style really complement that sentiment. The one thing that rubbed me the wrong way, however, is that I did have to skip over "Crave You". I absolutely love the sample from Flight Facilities, but I just find this arrangement to be kind of weighty with all of the echoes.
Overall, this album is a nice escape from the usual braggadocio of rappers such as Childish Gambino; no disrespect of course. Verbatum Jones is in a similar vein, but he seems to be aware of his imperfections; it's endearing. This is a solid introduction to who he is as an artist, and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better as he grows in music. My top three tracks from this EP are "Memories" (totally sounds like it was influenced by Blu and Exile's Below the Heavens), "Hillcrest Park" and "24 Bars." Oh! and "Look Around". I would play that at a party.
