The tongue-twisting wordplay is in full effect on “King Oxymoron”, produced by Marco Polo. Not one to shy away from shit-talking rhymes, Breeze does exactly that on “Translate It” over B-Money’s heavy bass and metal-echoing snares. This intrigued me in part because several rappers who I’ve met and befriended in the last 5 years, rappers who are underground and/or unsigned, all have occupations in which they have some capacity in the field of education, as teachers or para-educators: He talks about the poor diets of students, their unruly attitudes, and the hopelessness of fellow teachers in the teacher’s lounge. Breeze and his siblings are all teachers in their day jobs in the New York City public school system and he raps about the best and worst parts of being a middle school teacher.
The song is a first-person narration about being an educator. Musically, it consists of dusty, live-sounding drums with a female vocal sample.
“Taking Notes”, produced by Parallel Thought, is an intriguing track. It sounds upbeat and electronic as Breeze raps about a married couple losing the spice in their marriage, so they both cheat and it ends with a twist. DJ Maseo from De La Soul laces the beat on “Keep it Up”. Over a head-nodding beat, Breeze uses wry metaphors of exercise and physiology to make his points against persistent self-doubt. An acronym for “Pessimistic Personal Trainer”, the song rails against self-negativity. Female vocals are all throughout the track:īreeze’s manipulation of words and concepts continues on “PPT”, which he also produced. You’d think that the raps are about a crime story given the title, but it’s actually a clever flip on the name in how it’s a third person narrative about an “after school special”. Produced by Breeze himself, the sound feels more grimey than the previous three. Though Breeze’s monotone voice may turn some listeners away, his lyrics are crafted with depth and cleverness. With the added element of honking horns and other motor vehicle sound effects, Breeze uses the concept of road rage as a metaphor for his anger and frustration. Sebb Bash returns with his trademark bouncy sound on “Road Rage”. Detroit’s own Black Milk makes an appearance on “The Uninvited” which sounds reminiscent of reversed guitars in addition to its DJ record scratching. This opening track has bouncy snares and many lines that are almost stream-of-consciousness “ Be the man or see your fans call your bluff and…” and “ Ball to you fall for real, I’m not kiddin / So applaud all of y’all that’s here and not quitin’”. “ Hindsight” starts off with the Sebb Bash-produced “Gotta Love It”.
Additionally, in having control over his own solo album, not only is Brewin the sole emcee, but he also handles production on 4 of the album’s 13 tracks. Combining the personal and the socially conscious, Brewin’s aim is true as he zeroes his scope in several shots, 13 in fact. Outside of his group work with his two siblings in the Juggaknots, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard Brewin himself spit raps about his life and the world around it. The Juggaknots emcee is known for his oft-monotone polysyllabic wordplay, narratives, and rhymes being both braggadocios (like his work as part of the Weathermen) or conceptual (like being the lead emcee on Prince Paul’s “A Prince Among Thieves”). Perhaps that’s why Breeze Brewin named the title of his solo album “ Hindsight” and didn’t feel a need to include the now infamous number as its suffix. It’s easy to sit back and analyze situations or events down to their very last atom long after they’re long behind us.