Common Grackle: The Great Depression
I had never heard of producer, Factor until this year but since hearing of him, it seems like I have seen him everywhere. Besides his own solo album, Lawson Graham, he also produced an album with Awol One and one with Moka Only (credited as Ron Contour). His latest full length collaboration is with Gregory Pepper as Common Grackle. Unlike Factor’s other collaborations, Gregory Pepper is not a rapper, he is a singer. While for some hip hop producers, working with singers rather than rappers can be a little tricky but for Factor’s psychedelic rock-tinged hip hop, it is not much of a stretch.
Pepper’s voice is wobbly and constantly sounds like he is being tongue-in-cheek; it reminds me of The Lovely Feathers. Similarly to the Lovely Feathers, often Pepper is being tongue-in-cheek. My favorite example of this might be “At The Grindcore Show”. The song is basically about the ridiculous sights one might see at a grindcore show and how Pepper would not want to die at a grindcore show. The song is obviously humorous, but the meek voice he sings the track in makes the song all the better.
But not all the tracks are meant to be humorous. The album’s title track is an obvious serious track beginning with the line “it’s just a great depression I’m going through/let’s all get down with the times”. But even in a “serious track” Pepper manages to sprinkle in witty lines like “you got served/you got SARS/your net is smaller than my ball/bitch, how am I gonna score?”
Of all the Factor-produced albums I have heard recently, The Great Depression might be my favorite but it is not necessarily because of his production. While Factor’s production is apt, Gregory Pepper is the breakout star here. His lyrics remain insouciant even when dealing with serious subjects and his voice is perfect for the Factor production.
Rating: 7.8/10
MP3: Common Grackle featuring Ceschi “The Great Depression”
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Common Grackle: The Great Depression
