Many thanks to Aaron and Hector over at Consciousness Mag for the review…

A scholar is defined as a pupil and student who chiefly perfected him or herself in some branch of learning and engages in advance study knowing a great deal about one or more subjects. The Maryland native and emcee Scholarman is the pupil of groomed and proficient verbal intercourse providing antediluvian soul resonance that hip-hop once had in Existance.

“Lyrical Baptism” as the title to Scholarman’s thesis verbally defining the new parameters of Big L (Rest In Peace) “Ebonics,” where he serves as schoolmaster to naïve Hip-Hop 101 students.  It is a “Ritual” for hip-hop to have a Graduate With Honors and he proves he is that dude to hold that diploma.  The impulsive “Reign Drops” further enhances his Existance as an emcee carrying the slogan “Power and Respect > Money.”  Scholarman looks in the mirror and paints high drama with “Ces Pool Reflection,” a single that dissects chilling street tales of life in the dark side.

As a scholiast of the genre, Scholarman accepts his purpose of delivering the masses, the youth, and primarily the hip-hop community from the fragments of disparity founded in society as he “Embrace Horizon.”  Hip-hop is Scholarman’s school mascot and pleasure as he freaks her beauty with detailing emotion in “Si Vu Ples” and he releases his sign of escape after entering her “Lighthouse” and submerges “Unto You” with heavily lyrical/soulful cargo.

The album proves real hip-hop is still in Existance. While many scholars of the game try to master the skill of rhyming to perfect their craft or the art of emceeing, no one comes close to its creative and genuine scholasticism.  Scholarman got his schooling from the “Hard Knock Life” schoolhouse academy where the mic is his subject skillfully dissecting the parts that make up the device.  He is the architect of scholastic verbiage spelled in acronyms K.W.U.I (prounounced koo-loo-eye): Knighted With Understanding and Knowledge.  Substitute the prefix of the album title “e-x-i” with “s-u-b” and you get an album and artist with “Substance.”

4 out of 5 (****)

Rating: Conscious

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Buy Existance

RapReviews took the time to share their thoughts on my latest EP, check out what they said. Thanks to Steve, Manny & fam…

Since this review comes ten days after the EP’s intended release date, I’m going to take the unusual step of including a paragraph from the press release that accompanied it on June 19th:

“We present you with something fresh to ride to this weekend. Check out the ‘Fatherhood Dreamlovers Mix’ EP by ScholarMan. On this project, ScholarMan pays tribute to dedicated fathers by presenting a handful of tracks that are fatherhood inspired. With samples borrowed from The Dreamlovers, this EP features artists Anonamas and Silent War.“

Belatedly we offer this brief review in recognition of this brief EP, given away free by ScholarMan for Father’s Day 2010 in recognition of fatherhood everywhere. This one plays more to ScholarMan’s strengths as a producer than as a rapper, and in fact the longest song “Heartbeat” features no vocal performances at all other than in the form of samples. Still this suits the theme of the EP well as it’s entirely possible your father (certainly mine) just isn’t that into hip-hop, but might feel a good beat you could cruise to. Speaking of samples on “Heartbeat” though, they’re all about what it means to BE a father, from a variety of different voices of different backgrounds, all talking about fatherhood from their own perspective.

As for the songs that two have featured performances, there are only two – “In His Image” with Anonamas and “Seed” with Silent War. The former is more of a spoken word performance a la Ursula Rucker, while the latter is the same but from the male side of things – think Saul Williams. Either way all of the songs on this EP are held together by two things – ScholarMan’s solid but subtle production and a love for strong male role models who shaped and molded yesterday’s generation for today and will do the same with today’s generation for tomorrow. It’s a noble effort offered freely and enjoyed in the same manner.

Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: n/a of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10

Check out what the good folks at Exclaim! had to say about my latest album FSTS:

Maryland producer ScholarMan (who likens his style to artists such as Large Professor, Common and J Dilla) is out to school other so-called rap artists on his latest release, Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul. Armed with a gritty flow and organic, soulful production, ScholarMan creates a sound that harkens back to the ’90s Golden Era of hip-hop. On “I Love Hip Hop Music,” featuring K-Mynez, Scholar and his homey spit easy over a nice boom-bap backdrop that seriously gets your head nodding. If you aren’t feeling this track, ask yourself again if you actually like rap music. Elsewhere, ScholarMan switches it up and gets street over some stellar production anchored by a hypnotizing chorus of cooing. There’s no doubt that this dude needs to get his shine, because after four previous albums and numerous mixtapes, it’s a shame that real hip-hop like this gets overlooked because of a lack of budget. Take notes: ScholarMan’s got next. (Soganic)

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My homie Nat at HHL took the time to bang the latest, here is what he had to say (I corrected some of the errors in the lyrics):

“Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” is probably the perfect title for this album. ScholarMan has created a happy, feel-good, relaxing, soulful hip-hop record. While most of the albums I’ve been bumping recently have been ones I listen to on the train to work, shit that helps get me amped up for the hustle, this is the one I listen to every night when I come home to unwind from often busy and stress-filled days. It’s got a real peaceful vibe that helps me relax, and we all need that type of hip-hop from time to time.

Rating:

Retrospection

One thing I noticed about this album lyrically was that ScholarMan drops a handful of retrospective verses surveying past events and experiences. And I guess that his ability to look back on this positively is one of the things makes “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” a feel-good album. One good example is in Just Me, where Scholar drops the following verse about his beginnings as a hip-hop artist:

Remove the line in the sand/
Climb to advance/
Execute plans/
Maintain your stance/
Not easily swayed, sometimes I’ll called stubborn/
Other times Superbad McLovin/
Penny for your thoughts/
Lyrics of all sorts/
I remember the first bundle of records I bought/
The small Casio cassette deck I used to record with/
‘Cause studio time, yeah I couldn’t afford it/
Recorded in my room over hip-hop tunes/
Mic hanging from the ceiling, from the streets hear the boom/
Boom bap, boom bap/
I reminisce back/
The Earth spin like wax/
I’m writing on my Maxwell tapes, my first demo/
Dreaming of the camera and lights, and yes the limos/
Now my music’s more mature from the things I endure/
Reach realistic goals is the things I look for/

Storytelling

ScholarMan is one of those emcees that was just blessed with a good rap voice. His voice, his flow, his cadence, his rhyme patterns – all just sound very natural over his soulful production. So when he tells stories in his tracks, it makes them very easy to follow and comprehend. Tracks like Hood Stories Vol. 4 and Remember When, which could be my two favorite tracks on the album, tell good stories. For an example, check out former HHL quotable of the week Hood Stories Vol. 4.

Introspection

When listening to this album, I got the sense that “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” was ScholarMan’s response to some hard times in his life. While the album maintains the vibe of positivity and hope despite potential hardships, Scholar devotes a handful of verses to observing and examining his own mental and emotional states. One good example is the following verse from Love Potion:

Sometimes I feel cold like I’m living in the arctic/
My destination mark it, focus stay on target/
Switch lanes to gain and bring change/
My thoughts rearranged to cope with this pain/
I talk with my pops ‘cause wisdom he has lots/
And life’s a gamble, we all got a slot/
At times we take risk to bring joy and bliss/
Like that precious new kiss from that sweet new miss/
Or from that new child/
Watch her grow for a while/
I lead by example so mimic my style/
Repeat my words, truth that is unheard/
Something new for the kids to learn/
Nothing absurd/
But instead something real that they can all engage in/
It’s so amazing to journey through these phases/

Motivational

Above all, ScholarMan’s “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul,” like all his past records, is a motivational album. Tracks like Just Me, Set Above, Nowhere to Run and Love Potion all contain positive vibes and motivational rhymes. One good example is the following verse from Nowhere to Run:

Sometimes to move forward take two steps back/
Your game plan you attack/
Gotta stay on the map/
Underneath the radar/
Show ‘em what you made of/
True faith determination is the state of/
My state of mind/
PG my county line/
Paint pictures for the blind/
Through the use of the rhyme/
Regardless the time/
I spit it for broken clocks/
Can’t stand back and watch/
Good deeds to help the block/
I’m not content with the game so I’ma speak it/
My thoughts Im a leak it/
Truth to those who seek it/
And elevate my mind with something new/
New place to travel to/
You’re welcome to come too/
New lives passing through/
New recruits for the crew/
Hard times we subdue/
The past we hold true/

Overall

ScholarMan has never disappointed me. Through five albums and more free mixtapes than I can count, all of which were among my favorites of the time they dropped, Scholar is easily among my favorite underground hip-hop artists. I definitely recommend picking up a copy of “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul.” My favorite tracks include Just Me, I Love Hip-Hop Music, Babydoll, Hood Stories Vol. 4, Hopes & Dreams and Remember When. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Just Me
2. So Explosive
3. I Love Hip-Hop Music (feat. K-Mynez)
4. Set Above
5. Reap, Sow
6. Babydoll
7. Hold Me Back
8. Hood Stories Vol. 4
9. No Where To Run (feat. K-Mynez)
10. Hopes & Dreams
11. Love Potion
12. Remember When (feat. Teisha Marie)

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RapReviews.com took the time to check out my latest, here is what they had to say:

Written by Emanuel Wallace

Although he is known for socially conscious and soulful music, Maryland-based artist and producer, ScholarMan, refuses to be boxed in a specific sub-genre of hip-hop. His message and lyrical style has conjured up comparison to the likes of Common, Masta Ace and Chuck D, while his production has been compared to that of Hi-Tek, DJ Premier and the late J Dilla. Pretty good company there, but instead of resting his hat on those laurels, ScholarMan is intent on getting better. Considering himself a student of hip-hop and an advocate of the culture, this emcee shares his beliefs and views through his music. After several local releases, his first international album, “Candy Medicine”, was released in 2007. Due to the response by the fans of that release, SM now religiously drops an album annually. In 2008, he released “Soul Purpose” and 2009 saw “GameShift: The Movement”. This time around the Soganic Music revolutionary is exploring the “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul”

The album kicks off with the introductory “Just Me”, which essentially takes the story of who ScholarMan is and where he comes from and truncates it down to three minutes and thirty-seven seconds. He flows effortlessly over the beat, and the cuts do in fact remind me of the aforementioned Premier. He does seem to have a slight obsession with the 2007 movie, “Superbad”, as he references it in the album’s first two songs. K-Mynez makes an appearance on the call and response anthem that is “I Love Hip Hop Music”. Both “Set Above” and “Reap, Sow” feature strong production and the latter showcases more well placed cuts.

Scholar flips the script on “Babydoll”, at least lyrically, as we find him courting a lucky young lady. The track features a Curtis Mayfield sample from his song of the same name. The tempo picks up a bit on “Hold Me Back”. This is followed by one of the albums standout tracks, “Hood Stories Vol. 4″. I would assume that there were previous “Hood Stories” installments on his previous releases, but this time around, Scholar tells a story similar to the 1995 film, “Dead Presidents”. The song actually starts off with a clip of dialogue from the movie before going in-depth about the despair of a disillusioned war veteran, as he raps:

“Fresh off the plane, he’s hopin’ to get some sanity
His country tricked him, said he fought for humanity
Like you can guess, he got post-traumatic stress
Hard for him to breathe, lost a lung through his chest
Plus he drinks now, slowly, killin’ his liver
Bad dreams, just to wake up to a shiver
His daughter scared of him, and his shorty’s worried
Can he maintain with the strife that he carries
Before he left, he was far from a mess
Church every week, that’s his fam, they got the best
Now he can hardly hold a job cause he’s Kirkin out
Seein’ things, weird words that he’s blurtin’ out
So that means bills are stacked, then they stack more
He wishes he was dead, what he come back for
All he think ’bout is ‘Damn, I’m a veteran
Iraq..two tours, I deserve better than
Uncle Sam owes me, I’m gon’ take it
Guarantee I’m gon’ make it, rob this muthafucka naked’”

The album starts to wind down with “Hopes & Dreams” and “Love Potion”. The closer, “Remember When” features the vocals of Teisha Marie. Bearing a vocal resemblance to Chrisette Michelle, she provides the perfect compliment to Scholar’s flows about lost and would’ve-been loves. Overall, I think that ScholarMan does well enough to avoid being aimlessly tossed into any particular sub-genre. Being that he does his own production, he has the ability to craft and rock beats that best suit his style of rhyming. It’s not difficult to tell that he’s studied hard, and it probably won’t be too much longer before he’s getting A’s across the board.

Music Vibes: 8 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7.5 of 10

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Rap Chronicles did a brief review of Soul Purpose..

Check it:

(translated from french)

Before even listening to the third album by ScholarMan I knew it was going to be heavy. What I did not know is that the album (suprendrait?) me on many points. Not particularly because of the lyrics in The X Files, I ripped them already or on the production on Candy Medicine is the same size but on the overall quality of the album that surpasses the output of the two older albums.

In terms of beats, there is a mixture of vintage, samples of blues, bass line, and some electronic experiments such as sirens, voices and other sounds which create a vibe that makes you want to mount the volume helmet.

In terms of lyrics, it’s hip-hop conscientious at once unique and fun.

If you like this album, you should go for a look at Candy Medicine. Pending the review of that here is the track list and the album in streaming.

http://tinyurl.com/pnrflp

DJ Trew of Groundlift Magazine took the time to check out the Andre Kostelanetz EP. Peep what he said:

“In the spirit of Ground Lift, we’re bringing to the surface an undiscovered talent worth checking for. MC/Producer Scholarman hails from my home state of Maryland, and seeing how I’m revisiting my roots with our upcoming Wale concert, I figured let’s take it one further… Scholarman recently dropped an EP. Big deal right? Who hasn’t. But what brought this EP to my attention how he used all Andre Kostelanetz samples in his production. If you’ve ever gone thrift store digging, you’re no doubt acquainted with Kostelanetz’ work. Typically this is something many people pass over but Scholarman took a chance and created a solid, thematically coherent EP. Makes me wonder how much heat I’ve missed out on over the years!”

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