CONVINCED - I Do It For The People | Review By: Conan Milne


Release Date : April, 2007

Label : A Better Tomorrow Music Group

Rating: 4/5

Dub Quotable: Incorporating a generous dose of honesty and humour into his innovative music, this young man seems intent on breaking the stereotypical image of the unapproachable 'gangsta' rapper.

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If there's one justified complaint about many modern MCs, it's that they take themselves too seriously. With a lot of rappers resigned to 'mean-mugging,' it's no wonder that barbed critics dismiss such artists as one-dimensional. Budding West Coast prospect Convinced is, thankfully, not the snarling giant frequently associated with today's Hip-Hop output. Incorporating a generous dose of honesty and humour into his innovative music, this young man seems intent on breaking the stereotypical image of the unapproachable 'gangsta' rapper.

Convinced makes his unique stance clear immediately. On "Intro Bang," he stresses, "I really do this for fun - it's a hobby/You'll never catch me hanging out in record label lobbies." Over the backing electronic shudders and slight, deep strings, it's revitalizing to hear an MC pledge allegiance to the purity and art of Hip-Hop. Unsurprisingly, then, Convinced suggests disdain for those who exploit the culture with the goal of making a quick buck. "Dude, I'm hardly that kind of fella," he reassuringly spouts.

"I Ask Myself" ups the honesty ante. Over a sparse, jazzy percussion loop, Convinced voices his fears of becoming the type of man he opposes. Pondering his father, he somberly flows, "He always told lies and broke every said promise/Really had no conscience/And every day I look in the mirror/I see me evolving into that." Although the subject matter makes this slightly uncomfortable listening, the compelling, emotional insight makes this track a standout achievement.

The enthusiastic MC fares almost as well as the outspoken jokester. On "The Bizness," 'Vinced laments over the club's lack of beautiful women. "One looks like she got in with a fake I.D./One looks like she got kids, uh, about three/The one next to her got a poorly done weave." However Convinced falters here with a poorly conceived chorus. Meanwhile, an otherwise listenable beat is spoiled by what sounds like a deflated horn permeating the track.

Convinced's greatest selling point is that, bar the odd fumbled cut, he doesn't present himself as a persona-player. His music has a fantastic genuineness to it, and the fact that he offers this to The People free of charge makes him all the more endearing. Nonetheless, if he doesn't seriously consider making music as a career path, he should: Convinced is one of the brightest new talents to emerge from the West Coast in all too long.

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