Wednesday, May 16, 2012

ALBUM REVIEW - MC DAG FORCE - DAY & NIGHT 2 (Album)





For those of you that don't know MC DAG FORCE is a rapper and singer from Shibuya in Tokyo, Japan, originally from Gifu and studied at Tama Art University in Tokyo which is a very well known private school for the wealth of knowledge it passes on to it's graduates, some say the top in Tokyo, but everyone has their own opinion. Although MC DAG FORCE is a solo artist he usually performs with a band called DAG FORCE and The LAZY Stones which consists of fellow very famous musicians KenKen (RIZE/KenKen of INVADERS) on bass, Rio on guitar (Currently support guitarist with RIZE) and DUTTCH (UZUMAKI) on drums, but members have been known to mix and match since all of them have their own projects. I purchased his second album DAY & NIGHT 2 on iTunes after it came out. MC DAG FORCE's first album is completely sold out online everywhere and possibly out of print outside of Japan. It sold extremely well basically. Anyway without further ado onto the review!






INTRO - The first song on DAY & NIGHT 2 is an intro track, but it’s very good as far as intro’s go. It starts off with some very atmospheric instrumentals then Dag speaks momentarily then it goes into this amazing mixture of scratching and vocalizations. Really original and a nice way to start off the album.

KAZE-KAZE is the kind of song that if you’re down this will automatically pick you up, it’s very upbeat with a few what I’d call reggae elements, but also a very good hip hop style beat. Dag’s rapping along with the very catchy chorus make this song shine. When Dag says “I’m gonna bring you up. Blow your mind” He’s not joking!

GET HIGHER 2010- This song is a mixture of Dag’s on point and freeflowing rapping and a mixture of drum and bass, Dag’s vocals are on the forefront in this song and that’s just fine, this guy knows how to sing and rap with the best of them! The chorus is extremely catchy, but all of the choruses on his songs are.

ALL EYES ON YOU- This song has a good traditional kind of reggae feel to it with what I believe is a keyboard and drums. It’s very low in terms of sound, that’s not a shot I mean it’s like a very deep bass would be, not the quality of the music. This song is very comforting and one you can just sit back and vibe to while singing along. The chorus in which Dag sings “Everything is alright. I wanna sing for you. Everything is alright All eyes on you” makes you feel that everything is going to be just fine. I mean the song ends with repeating everything is gonna be alright and okay. This is the most positive song I’ve heard in quite a while and I’m glad. We all need a little reassurance now and then.

CHUOUTRO- This is just a very good instrumental break that features drums, bells, a catchy guitar and piano. Dag can not only sing and rap he produces very good instrumental songs, let’s hope for a DJ Dag sometime soon!

ONE BY ONE- This song has a very old school hip hop style to it and makes (me at least) think of strolling the streets of Tokyo with headphones, perfect for a music video. The song features Dag really showing off his rapping skills along side some saxophone, drums and  guitar, a perfect match for Dag’s vocals.

FREEDOM- This song screams Reggae in every sense of the word, it’s about freedom, it has a reggae beat, but with a new school hip hop beat to it. I know that makes no sense, the song has one type of atmosphere but a different beat behind it. Dag’s rapping which I can’t say enough about and his singing are just as amazing as ever. This song title reminds me of the song he did called Tibetan Freedom off of DJ Nobu AKA BOMBRUSH’s A-Plus Mix Da Tokyo Shit Vol.3 Mixtape.

OUTRO- The outro song which has a good mixture of heavy bass and a keyboard along with some heavy drums that kick in suddenly is the perfect way to end this album. It’s relaxing and is simply a perfect end to the album. This song is very jazz like and a nice surprise to wrap up with.

I can’t say enough about Dag’s rapping skills and his great singing. The man is one of the best rappers I have ever seen and he can sing! Not easy to do both and do them well. Okay that’s about enough hyping Dag up, although he deserves it all.

Over all DAY & NIGHT 2 is a very good feel-good music album. With a mixture of reggae, hip hop and even a hint of jazz this album is in the top 3 of hip hop albums released last year, in America or Japan or any other country in my opinion. One thing’s for sure, by the time this is over you will see how much of a nice guy Dag is and that he wants to spread good vibes out to everyone around the world. Dag makes it clear on this album that life may not always be perfect, but don’t worry, everything will be alright.

DAY & NIGHT 2 in terms of quality is a very well produced album with catchy beats and amazing rapping and singing. If there was only one thing I didn’t like it was that it ended so soon! I want more!

5/5

You can purchase MC DAG FORCE’s album DAY & NIGHT 2 at any Japanese music store, import stores online and you can buy it off of iTunes.

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