Chilling and ominous in its strut, the beat we discover beneath the melody and vicious rap in “Off the Block” is arguably just as big an agent of evocation as Livefromcedargrove’s lyrics are. The North Carolina-born hip-hop artist isn’t pulling any punches in this all-new single; instead of retreating from the sizzle he set off last year with W.C.M., he’s turning up the heat and going as hard after the groove as he can in “Off the Block.” There have been some really compelling rappers coming to the surface out of the American underground in the last couple of years, but from where I sit, few scenes have been as intriguing as those down south – and artists like this one are the reason why.
The grooves here are pretty seductive on their own, but personally I think the countrified harmonies that surround the lyrics here are what make “Off the Block” such a truly unique piece of material. There’s no hesitation on the part of Livefromcedargrove when he’s attacking the verse, but at the same time, he’s careful to lay off the gas just enough to let the guitars chime in over the verse and colorize his statements with a bit of melodic emotionality. His aesthetical concept won’t allow for him to get overindulgent, but he’s just as drawn to lush sonic backdrops as he is the lean and mean lyricism found in every one of the tracks he’s released in his career so far.
There’s a poetic weight to the narrative in “Off the Block,” and yet it’s the delivery Livefromcedargrove is employing that strikes me as being the true epicenter of strength in this song. Don’t get it twisted – the linguistics have plenty of potency here, but had anyone one else been at the mic instead of this talented player, I don’t think the music would be quite as affective, nor the words nearly as relatable and interpretive as they are in this scenario. He’s putting his own unique spin on this story, and for a rapper that is still working on getting some national exposure beyond that of the underground press, that’s quite the achievement (not to mention one that many of his closest rivals simply haven’t been able to do on their own yet).
I can’t speak for every critic, but I think there’s a big future ahead of Livefromcedargrove, and if you take a peek at what he’s laying down in “Off the Block,” I think you’re going to agree with me. There haven’t been a lot of disturbances in the steady rise of hip-hop’s influence over American pop culture in the last two decades, and through the continuous swell of underground artists and output like “Off the Block,” I don’t see any end in sight. This is a good time to be in the rap game, and for Livefromcedargrove, an optimal moment to arrive in the spotlight of a primetime stage hungry for new and exciting skillsets it has yet to exploit.
Jodi Marxbury
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