Posted on: July 8, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

 

Most of the “gay” identified artists really suck. Enterprising individuals go and understand that there is a lot of money from campus groups and private organizations if they identify themselves with a GLBT logo, so the quality of music by out musicians really suffers. That is, until Soce begins eir “The Lemonaide Incident” with “I Am (So Gay).” The boldness experienced with the rapping on this track is great; individuals the style itself is pretty middle of the road with hints of both Shawn Luv and Eminem coming through at fairly regular intervals. The hooks are so polished that they could conceivably be on 106th and Park or TRL at any time; the subject matter would be expunged but these are definitely tracks that someone could get down to.

Each of the tracks on “The Lemonade Incident” really takes a different style of rap for its influence, allowing for Soce to really spread eir wings without falling into a similar-sounding rut like most of eir rap contemporaries do. By far, the best song of the first half of “The Lemonade Incident” has to be the classically-influenced mix of “Work/Plug”, a track that even goes farther in the ethnic sound to recall individuals like Sean Paul. The only real weakness that the first half of the disc has is in the Ken Kaniff-sounding “Hatah”, a track that cannot be borne by the weak jazz horn that backs up Soce’s vocals during the track. “Bad Hair Day” reclaims some of the lost momentum on “Hatah” with a down-tempo but still interesting track that incorporates a second set of vocals into the mix. Continuing this eclectic approach with a New Jack Swing type of sound with “IDL (I’m Dickless)”, Soce infuses what could be a serious track with the proper amount of humor.

Without much in the way of weakness shown during this album, Soce makes something that is great and at least somewhat memorable in eir “The Lemonade Incident”. With always fresh instrumentation and fun, sunny tracks, Soce shows that it is not necessarily a cliché following that eir looking for. Gay might just be a secondary term placed after “world-renowned” rapper. Without much in the way of skits or throw away tracks featuring someone famous, Soce actually has a step up on most of eir competition. Here’s to hoping that Soce has a long and impressive career and that ey gets the mainstream recognition that ey deserves.

Top Tracks: Robotics, I Am (So Gay)

Rating: 7.1/10

[JMcQ]

Soce – The Lemonade Incident / 2005 Self / 13 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/soce / Reviewed 20 December 2005

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