DESCRIPTION:
1.) Kill em. Kill em. 0.00
2.) Sodium 1:12
3.) Clam Chowder ft. Mad Dukez & Daze 4:09
4.) Revenue Streams 7:35
5.) Box 86 ft. Tone Atlas 10:28
6.) Myanmar 12:58
7.) Black Lung 15:50
8.) Gun Powder Tea ft. Westside Gunn 17:44
9.) KOBE 20:21
10.) Hall of Fame ft. Definition 22:05

pulp716:
The shaman: an intermediary between good and evil, arch nemesis and archangel, civility and slaughter; a practitioner of magic and divination; a storyteller, a healer, an expert of otherworldly cure-alls; a historian of the future. The work of a shaman is an art of ritual, much like that of the work of the MC, the spoken word artist, the scribe or the disciple of poetry. We find dimensionality in our words through presence of mind and even clairvoyant travel. We use our ability to write as life happens. We become transceivers, continuously sending and receiving things. We find the answers to our own questions. Our questions are the answers. We keep doing this. We are shamans.

On the latest Shuteyes studio album Opium, he channels the shaman as the album opens with a slow drum tempo. The listener is brought to his track “Clam Chowder,” where the shaman is now influenced by a malevolent spirit, but I guess you could say he is using his evil for good in this instance. He recites, “Never move off the fear, never rest with distress, put your head on a swivel, and be sure before you step. It’s best to come correct, death or meet the feds. If you’re moving off the fear, then you’re not playing chess.” The kind cobra has arrived. Daze jumps on with his verse: “My persona is that of an anaconda, quite striking in my ways, I mean a lyrical Madonna…I superman a crane lift on top of a tower, then drop you off so you can fall for an hour. My style gets so filthy, and it never takes a shower. It’s the reason why the side of your face accumulates in baby powder.” Tests of physical and mental endurance, reasons we get better at life, right? Of course, the MCs are also taking an opportunity to flex their muscles and boost their superiority complexes, the root of hip hop culture--showing what you got. A rattlesnake lightly shakes its tail in motion with a pendulum swing tempo while the track ends with the chanting, “Never move off the fear” and Shuteyes heeds, “Know thy enemy, the rest is chemistry.”

From there we are taken to “Revenue Streams,” a track critical to the development of his message. He raps, “B-Lo’s nothing levelly. Victor was the cousin, but the cobra was the company, we roll with that sh*t comfortably, so what you facing now? Struggles testing ancient smiles, foundation I lays it down.” In the background we hear the wails of an ancient wolf and horn. Battle cries seeking otherworldness. Shuteyes once again demonstrates, as he does in most of his work, an initiative to dig up a past which will lead us to the future. The MC goes on to say later in the track, “My type of drive is an incessant handful, your type of drive is collecting some canned food...success seems so circumstantial…I’m trying to open up my lane, mainline to many veins, multiple revenue streams…” There are those who take and those who give. But life is a give and take. You have to have in order to give, which is a point I think Shuteyes is arguing, or is at least the point I gather. A stream is a means, and there’s usually more than one way to do something, more than one way to make money, to be business-minded about your music. Exhaust all options. If you look online you can stream Shuteyes’ music and give that way to the artist (which is how he has been selling copies of his album).

“Revenue Streams” is his written call to action. It’s more creative than a beggar’s sign, and he’s relating himself to us, the listeners, in this call to action for artists to think outside the box “in which we fit,” as mentioned in the next track, “Box 86” featuring spoken word from Tone Atlas. This track is probably the most provocative in terms of imagery through rhyme on the entire album. “Always be rhyming for answers, for questions and more yet, the past is a map, not a straight line to your freaking door step,” Tone asserts unapologetically. One of my favorite lines comes near the end: “Stick this pauper in the coffin kill the bullshit, same with your philosophy, just plant a tree on top of me. I’ll enrich the soil, just make sure you stake it properly.” Just very beautiful writing, and personal, as Shuteyes ties in his love of horticulture and an environmental consciousness... - Jessica H. Brant
http://www.pulp716.com/artist-of-the-week/buffalo-music-beat-shuteyes-album-release

WRITTENby Shuteyes. PRODUCEDby Definition. MIXEDby ItSmellsLikeLaundry. MASTEREDby Gangster D. ARTWORKby RachelRizzo.
shuteyes.bandcamp.com ~ @Shuteyesflow ~ Dopecrates
April 2016. Buphvlo, NY. USA.
#HIPHOP&HORTICULTURE