This took me sometime to critic, but it was definitely worth the time spent. With that said, when you think of Las Vegas a few things come to mind; women, gambling, alcohol, but Hip-Hop doesn’t really resonate. For me, up until a few months ago, the only thing I associated with Vegas and Hip-Hop was the unfortunate shooting of the late great Tupac Shakur. However, now my mind quickly shouts Dizzy Wright. The 21 year old Las Vegas native is still relatively unheard of out side of his somewhat “infamous” city, but it’s time we all start taking note. His style is very mature for his age; where most of his peers are addressing the lavish life that hip-hop exudes Dizzy is a bit more down to earth. The fact that he is a proud father might have something to do with it, or it could just be something burns deep with in the young emcee. He is a member of Funk Volume, a independent label which also represents a member of the newly crowned XXL freshman list, Hopsin. I randomly remember seeing Dizzy on BET for some freestyle competition back when, but never pursued his music. One day, I some how came across a video on Youtube titled “Solo Dolo” and let it play; I was instantly hooked and wanted more music from Wright. I quickly came upon “Hit Me When You Coming” and “Happy” and I was instantly hooked. I got wind through his twitter account that he would release his second mixtape entitled “SmokeOut Conversations,” surprisingly enough on April 20th. I did some more back search and gathered enough music to hold me over; now that the Vegas emcee has ignited his newly rolled joint, why don’t we see if in fact we can vibe out to his project or if is more hash then hemp.
Production – 2.5/5
On a production level I have very mixed feelings, and I question Dizzy’s beat selection more than anything else. I feel that he is talented enough to make any beat work for him, but it just seems as though some of the joints on the album didn’t favor him. Listeners can obviously hear Dizzy’s potential and talent, but at times not even his skills can get you passed some of the horrible sounds. The majority of the album is produced by in house beat maker Rikio who I have personally never heard of. Other Names that get production credit are Sub-Zero and Dj Hoppa who both give Dizzy Wright’s vocals a much better canvas to paint on. There are no real dance party/hype type beats on the project, and that’s a small let down, because it would be nice to see what Dizzy sounds like on a beat like that. His style however, is complemented well on a few tracks with mellow chords, piano keys and low volume drums. As I previously mentioned, the young Las Vegas emcee has a very lay back and inspiration sounds. The beats try to add to that but the substance just seems to get watered down because of some lackluster sounds. I expect this to change overtime with the overall development of Funk volume and its roster.
