CD Review -
Kizzo
“SGO2”
by: Traci Lau
Triple threats are nothing new in the entertainment industry, but for local artist Kizzo, this is only the beginning of his musical career as an artist, writer and producer for local record label Seven Figure Entertainment.
Kizzo, formally known as Charles Kizzee, followed up his first album “Show Goes On” with the sequel, “SGO2 (The Great Escape).” Kizzo, the first artist to create a follow-up project for the label, wrote and arranged the majority of the tracks and took part in the production process for four of the tracks. Christyle Trakz, founder of the label, teamed up with Kizzo again for SGO2, following their partnership on another label mate’s CD in early 2009. Christyle featured on “That’s What I’m Used 2” and “Take That Away” and wrote, arranged, and produced the music for many of the tracks on the CD. Not only that, but fellow label mate Talent was featured in “I Can’t Survive” and “Lost”, with the former written, produced and arranged by Talent and with additional writing, arrangement and concept direction by Kizzo.
The cohesiveness of all of the tracks on the album was evident from the beginning. The album starts on a surprising note, with a 10-second “T.W.I.U.2 Prelude,” an upbeat string arrangement underlain by a beat. The prelude is abruptly cut short and flows right into the next track, a sure-to-be-radio hit “That’s What I’m Used 2” featuring Christyle Trakz. Already broadcasting on hip-hop stations in Houston, the song is for car rides with friends and follows the typical lyrics of girls and drinking. However, what sets the track apart is the music, a seemingly mix of a synthesized organ piano melody and an infectious beat.
“Love/Hate” is slow, beat-driven track with Kizzo singing and rapping about relationship issues many people face: loving somebody but yet not being able to stand them at the same time. The longest track on the album, the song is like many of the others on the CD and has a synthesized strings arrangement throughout the majority of the song. “Talkin’ Bout It” focuses on another aspect of relationships and has a seductive, slow beat with lyrics focusing on Kizzo’s attraction to a girl.
“Nite Iz Yung” follows the previous two tracks’ example and is a mid-tempo rap that focuses on attraction and seduction. However, the downfall of the song is the repetitive nature of the verses, in which Kizzo almost echoes every sung line with a spoken one. Unlike the previous songs, auto-tune is more evident in this track, which is helpful in setting this song apart from the previous two slower-tempo tracks.
“Just Can’t See It” begins with the acoustic guitar melody and is followed by Kizzo comparing a girl and his desire for the continuation of their relationship to the smooth flow of the song. This song is set apart from the previous tracks because it flows seamlessly from verse to verse with the help of the acoustics, making it easily one of the album favorites.
The acoustic track is followed by “I Can’t Survive,” a song written, produced, arranged and featuring Talent. The song, focusing on an obsessive, stalker-like fan girl, is lyrically odd next to a track about relationships and seduction, but it is pleasantly surprising and well-produced. The only other odd part of the song is the chicken-like squalks, but it furthered my intrigue in this track.
“Lost,” featuring Talent, seems out of place, and the track would’ve fit better if placed before or after “Night Iz Yung” because the song is purely about seduction. The only aspect that sets it apart from “Night Iz Yung” is Talent’s vocals, but otherwise, it is just another mid-tempo song on the album. The ending of the track can be summed up as interesting, but it is not enough to set the song apart from the pack.
In yet another mid-tempo track, Christyle Trakz is featured again for “Take That Away,” in which Kizzo tells a girl he would take her away from the pain and loneliness if she would allow him.
“Rewind” is a slow track with Kizzo reminiscencing on an ex-lover and with whom he would like to be together again. Despite being in a line of consecutively slow or mid-tempo tracks, the lyrics save the song, a message many others can find common ground upon. The melody, however discreet it is, is a nice backdrop, and the auto-tune enhances the track.
The second to last track, “Without U ‘Lude” was performed by Markeyna Kizzee, Laquise Young and Daketryce Young and begins with the reading of a portion of the Book of Matthew from the Holy Bible. The upbeat track continues with children singing the last minute of the track, with lyrics hinting the song is devoted to God, whom Kizzo lists as one of his primary sources of inspiration.
The album ends on a smooth note, with “Free Thoughts 2 (The Drum Roll),” which samples the 1990 hit single “Spread My Wings” by Troop. The soothing track consists solely of rapping compared to Troop’s original, with lyrics such as “You never know what the end may be so I won’t waste life on those who hate me.” The song’s inspirational lyrics focus on overcoming struggles in the face of adversity.
This album served as a pleasant surprise for me. Having listened to rap music for so many years, finding an album with songs without heavy doses of expletives that is enjoyable by both younger audiences and 18-and-older crowds is becoming increasingly difficult. However, the album, which consists heavily of mid-tempo tracks and songs primarily related to interactions between the opposite sex, can either bounce between borderline boring to being relatively predictable for mainstream hip-hop and rap audiences. For listeners who prefer mid-tempo tracks that rely on primarily synthesizer arrangements, this album is worth the purchase. Despite such setbacks, the album is refreshing, with “That’s What I’m Used 2” sure to be successful regionally, and “Just Can’t See It” a fresh take on the typical love song. Even though it is only Kizzo’s second album, Huntsville should be proud of this locally-bred triple threat and should look forward to his future projects.
