Artist: Grynch
Album: Timeless EP
Hometown: Seattle
Label: Self-released
Score: 7.5/10
It’s almost been two years since Grynch won over the hearts of the local music scene with his1986 Volvo DL tribute track “My Volvo” off the Chemistry EP. The success of that release and Grynch’s work ethic earned him multiple accolades including spots opening for the likes of Snoop Dogg and Warren G and sets at Bumbershoot, Capitol Hill Block Party and other festivals.
On Timeless, his first official release since Chemistry (he also released the tongue-in-cheek titled Rapping About Rapping mixtape) Grynch addresses his critics, celebrates his accomplishments and even gets a bit deep and contemplative about his choice to stay in the rap game. The EP, which can be downloaded for free, sees Grynch teamed up with the promising local producer Jester who created beats and song structures that perfectly match Grynch’s strengths as a MC.
The King of Ballard comes out of the gates swinging on “So Long,” the opening cut, by taking his haters on directly and acknowledging his supposed weaknesses (he’s short, he’s white and can only rap about two things: rapping and his V-O-L-V-O) and drops the gem of a Seattle reference by encouraging his detractors to go ahead and continue to “sleep like Griffey in the clubhouse.” He then proceeds to surprise showing a bit of versatility by sort of singing the hook of “No matter what I’ll persevere because I know I’ve got a purpose here.”
“All I Wanna Do” is the EP’s party track and features another young rapper in the rise in Sol. The two MC’s styles compliment one another so well that they really should just get it over with and do an entire collaborative record since they pop up on each other’s cuts so often.The title track, which includes guest spots by Jon Hope and La, establishes the vibe of the EP which is straight-up, no-fills hip-hop. There isn’t a lot of fat or filler on the EP with each track offering up witty and smart lyrics and head-bobbing beats.
“Randy the Ram” is the most interesting song on the EP. If you couldn’t figure it out from the title the song takes a note from the film The Wrestler and Grynch parallels his own efforts to chase his dream of hip-hop stardom to the Mickey Rourke’s character in the movie. Throughout the song Grynch wrestles with his own career ups and down and uses professional wrestling references to tell his story (ex: “I coulda been The Rock but I’m not, I wound up Jake the Snake”). As an added bonus at the end of the track a voicemail from someone with a goofy voice calling himself “Lawrence” challenges Grynch to a rap battle that will decide who is the real King of Ballard. It reeks of WWE cheese and those with keen ears will notice the goofy voice is that of none other than Macklemore (he seems to be popping up everywhere). Were you expecting some other local rapper with a library of goofy voices?
Elsewhere Grynch shows his sensitive side on “Out of Sight Out of Mind,” a song about being with someone but thinking about somebody else, and the D-Sane remix of Wizdom’s “Got Ya Numb” is the EP’s braggadocio track. Sabzi’s remix of “My Volvo” nicely wraps things up giving listeners a new twist on something they’re likely familiar with, and while Sabzi’s remix is definitely worth having in your local hip-hop collection it is a little disappointing it was included on an EP that kicks off with Grynch declaring he can do more than be known as the guy who does the Volvo song.
Overall the seven-song EP, which clocks in at less than 26 minutes, shows a lot of growth by Grynch since his Chemistry days and like all good EPs it leaves the listener in anticipation for an upcoming full length which will hopefully drop this fall.
Download Grynch’s Timeless EP for free exclusively at DJBooth.net
