Musically Outlines has a fairly experimental approach to hip hop. It sounds almost IDM-ish initially, taking the hip hop sound and adding some glitch. But oddly the vocals are fairly typical of mainstream rap. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it seems to really contrast, and unfortunately it’s not really in a good way. I mean making an R'N'B-ish, whatever, with experimental tendencies could be a really awesome album, but I think this might be a little too slick.
The first song Show Me could be a big hit I think, maybe, it has an R'n'b hook too it, while the beat is almost dancehall. It kind of gets stuck in my head, though I think again that fractured strangeness to the music could easily get in the way.
I keep thinking funk as I listen to this, with the sort of soul singing and the music just sort makes you groove a little. Oh and there is a guest spot by the RZA. I like the RZA.
Oh I think I get it. There is song called back to 1984. Maybe what it’s trying to do is just create a very positively vibed hip hop, back before the days of gangsta rap. Just to be sort of positive and fun, I could see that.
Our Lives does work in that respect, it’s very happy. Maybe our lives are too short to dwell on the negative. Well not all the time anyway. "Change, is it too much to ask for?", that’s a hook in one of the songs. Maybe Outlines want to change the face of modern hip hop, return more of a sense of fun to the mainstream, a sense of the new, a sense of awe.
Hey and there is some nice French rap. It’s all very nice. Yeah I think that’s the best description, just positive and nice. Aww gee wiz and shucks. Very , very friendly. I think my dad might like this, he loves BET, but only for the soul. Maybe I should play it for him. I’ll ask him if he likes the singing I don’t really know enough about it.
