One of the biggest perks to this 411Mania thang was waitin’ for me in the mailbox a few days ago. After fightin’ the San Diego freeways for my 10 mile commute home, I was pleasantly surprised to find a promo CD mixed in with my Sports Illustrated and the wife’s Essence. Lo and behold, there’s a brand new rap group on the scene. And look ma…it’s three white chicks from Long Island.
Northern State is comprised of longtime friends Hesta Prynn, Guinea Love and DJ Sprout. No relation. They’ve actually been honing their craft for a few years and only now have begun to scratch the surface of the mainstream. They’ve already toured with The Roots and shared a stage with De La Soul and The X-ecutioners. Now, I’m sure that none of y’all give a damn about their résumé. You wanna know if Northern State is worth your money.
Dying In Stereo is an eight-track EP that has been gaining a slow and steady buzz in many areas where mainstream rap isn’t heard that often. As a rap group, the ladies of Northern State wisely build a strong foundation with some of the best beats I’ve heard in a good while. This is clearly evident on the very first track, A Thousand Words. It’s a straightforward introduction to the group as well as to their general irreverence and political leanings:
“I’m a vegetarian, humanitarian, imaginarian, not a libertarian/
The country’s getting ugly and there’s more in store/
But don’t blame me cuz I voted for Gore/
Keep Choice Legal/Your wardrobe regal/Chekhov wrote the Seagull/And Snoopy is a beagle”
Don’t go runnin’ to your gun racks jus’ yet, my Republican dawgs. The trio only mounts the soapbox a few times here and there. Actually, it’s refreshing to hear anyone in hip hop take a sincere stand on anything these days that ain’t about whatever name brand they have on their back.
The group steps up the goodness on the second track, Trinity. It’s another “here’s who we are” track, but is highlighted by excellent old school turntable work and lyrics that range from the boisterous: “The father, the son, the Holy Ghost/which MC do you like the most/why pick one when you can choose from three/that’s why we call it The Trinity.”, to the outrageously warped: “I don’t need no psychiatrist/Ridin’ around town like the archdiocese.”
The girls reach their zenith on both Vicious Cycle and the album’s title track. The former is a heartfelt message to those tryin’ to control the hip hop culture:
“It’s the DJs and the MCs and the writers and the breakers/
Not the corporations and the hit makers/
That keep hip hop fresh, the kids gotta hear it/
I move closer to the speakers so that I can get near it.”
They also find time for the controversial as well:
“It doesn’t take 41/
To kill a man without a gun/
I’m glad to wave goodbye to Gulliani/
Who owns the wall space in this big city?
The companies have billboards, but that sh!t ain’t pretty/
Government busy scrubbing true art off the wall”
On the title track, the group finishes with a flourish. Northern State comes with a machine-gun flow that alternately seems to tweak and celebrate their atypical hip hop backgrounds:
“The name is Hesta Prynn, I’m timeless/ I write while I rhyme this/
Turn down the sound and I’ll mime this/ Edmund Hillary couldn’t climb this/
Parsley sage rosemary and thyme this/
Step off, your flow is weak/Save that talk for Dawson’s Creek/
And if you wanna know why I shriek like a banshee?
I’m seven eighths white, one eighth Comanche.”
