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A couple of years ago, I featured music from a rapper out of North Carolina going by the name of Cyrano, aka Cy Yung. He passed along a song of his that turned out to be one of the most memorable joints I've put up in the past couple of years, a sort of P.S.A. on STDs called Herpes (if you haven't heard it, don't let the title put you off from giving it a listen). Since then, Cy's become rather prolific, showing up on several blogs. Recently Cy touched base to say he's just released a new mixtape, Cyrano's Republic.
Produced by the Backpackers Anonymous duo of JSLIKK and Cynergy Sounds, Cy describes the mixtape as a "mashup of Nas' If I Ruled The World and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (the original one, not the new joint)." Easily one of the most intriguing descriptions of a mixtape I've ever been given, the concept kind of encapsulates Cyrano's approach to hip hop. What struck me about him, from the very first email he sent me, is his enthusiasm for hip hop and his desire to do something creative with the music. There aren't too many other rappers who could tell me they were putting out a mixtape inspired by both Nas and Willy Wonka and not have me expecting it to be ridiculous; when Cy told me about it, however, it sounded perfectly reasonable.
My thoughts on Cy's latest mixtape are pretty similar to what I said the last time I put up some of his music: there are a couple of rough spots (which he readily admits to, as some of the tracks on the tape are a couple of years old), but they're easily forgiven in light of how many creative risks he takes with his music, and how often those risks pay off. The production from Backpackers Anonymous, which ranges from soul sampling tracks to minimalist boom bap beats, is quite good, but Cyrano is the star of the show here. When he's at his best, telling stories in a way that is almost conversational, Cy is a very charismatic emcee. The lyrical content is all over the place - 'eclectic,' in his own words - from the usual braggadocio to tales of love to bits of conscious rhyming, with a few quotes from Phife Dawg thrown in for good measure. Even when he drops an occasional verse that misfires ("talk big shit and just farted"), he delivers the line in such a way that it just becomes part of his personality on the mic. Hard to hate on that.
Here are a couple of my favorite songs from Cyrano's Republic:
Cyrano - Ever Y.U.N.G. (produced by JSLIKK) (d/l link)
Cyrano - Yung Girlz (produced by Cynergy Soundz) (d/l link)
Cyrano - Diary of a Madman (produced by JSLIKK) (d/l link)
Cy's been a very busy man since the last time we posted his music. In addition to the expected release of his first official album, this spring's Back 2 Lyfe, Cyrano is currently working on two seperate EPs, one produced by Kid Hum and the other produced by JSLIKK of Backpackers Anonymous, and has another DubMD mixtape coming out soon. Some familiar voices will be dropping verses on the EPs, including Nico the Beast and Pugz Atoms, so expect to hear more on those in the near future.
Download Cyrano's mixtape, Cyrano's Republic (zShare link)
Further Listening:
Cyrano aka Cy Yung's Myspace
Cyrano on 33Jones
JSLIKK's Myspace
Cynergy Soundz Myspace
Backpackers Anonymous blog
02/25/2009 08:00:01 PM posted by Fresh