Apollo Brown is the London Perrantes of hip-hop. Perrantes is insanely talented, knows how to work as a team and gives his teammates great opportunities to deliver a slam. This is a fitting comparison for Brown, a Detroit-based producer known for his extensive collaboration projects. Brown creates a beautiful partnership with each rapper he works with, mixing lush and layered beats to perfectly mesh with the verses and bars of his emcee.
His latest album, “The Easy Truth,” finds Brown teaming up with New York City’s Skyzoo. The duo displays a large amount of chemistry throughout the whole album. The ambitions and goals of each artist is clearly understood by the other as they come together to tell a beautiful story of pushing through challenges and the paths taken to get there.
The greatness of this album begins with Brown’s production. Each song carries his trademark style — a driving bassline seasoned perfectly with beautiful samples of piano and crisp drum beats. He takes each song to another level with string arrangements and brass solos appearing throughout each track. Furthermore, each song is peppered with a subtle crackling noise in the background, making the album sound like a vinyl record. When paired with Brown’s production, Skyzoo’s lyrics come together with the beats perfectly to create vivid songs listeners can picture in their minds.
Brown’s production gives Skyzoo a lush soundscape over which to craft his lyrics, and Skyzoo makes perfect use of Brown’s beats. “The Easy Truth” is a loose-concept album about the rise to riches and a better life out of poverty, influenced by Skyzoo’s experiences growing up in New York City. Armed with an array of intricate and internal rhyme schemes, Skyzoo takes listeners on a journey through his upbringing. The album lays out the reality of life simply and honestly — life is hard, and people have to embrace whatever comes their way.
The lyricist uses his story to touch on many issues prevalent today. Brown speaks about police brutality and offers a different perspective on dealing drugs. People often resort to dealing drugs and other illegal activities, he says, because it’s often their only option. Poverty and seemingly inescapable circumstances are displayed perfectly through Skyzoo’s story, increasing the visibility of these issues.
The story in “The Easy Truth” is both unique and relatable. Skyzoo’s lyrics about life struggles are relatable for all listeners and present more personal perspectives. These lyrics are paired perfectly with the entrancing production of Brown, resulting in one of the best and most impactful collaborations of the year.
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