Asian American Lifestyle, Hip Hop, Music, Forums, Film & Entertainment Source - AZNRaps.com - Scarfoe ft. Sean B

Scarfoe ft. Sean B - "Gotta Survive"

Written by FD4PREZ

March 01, 2008

Artist: Scarfoe ft. Sean B
Song: Gotta Survive
Download/Listen: [link]
Original Forum Post: [link]
MySpace Link: n/a

It's been a while since we did a review on an independent artists actual song. Due to high demand, we're back to reviewing single songs for some of the more "established" independent artists, as well as the newcomers who are just getting into music recording.

On "Gotta Survive" The beat kicks off with a drum pattern that sounded like somebody had simply hit "play" on their Casio keyboard. I had a bad feeling during this stage leading up to the song, but it was a nice surprise to hear the chorus kick in.

The two rappers on the song Scarfoe and Sean B, both do a nice job on the mic quality-wise. From the slight high pitch-iness of the voices on the song, you can tell that these guys are recording from home, far away from a professional recording studio. Not bad, as this is the essence of independent recordings nowadays.

Scarfoe does a nice job kicking it off on the first verse with just enough energy to cover up the sub-par first verse. Sean B also gets a passing grade for his part on the second verse, though I cringed at the end, with the hardly- believable last few lines.

"I ain't never gonna drop (too long of a pause)...
I ain't never gonna stop (too long of a long pause)...
It's just not my style (too long of a long pause)...
Cause me not survivin, is "Destiny"... "Child"

The chorus and the overall theme of the song is based exactly on what you'd think from seeing the title "Gotta Survive". It's not clear whether this beat is sampled from an old song or not-- the guitar sounds sound heavily sampled, but then again what's it really matter? It sounds decent.

Whoever produced it did a good job putting just enough energy to fit the overall theme of the song, though it suffered due to its repetitiveness. The breakdown is awkwardly placed near the begining after the first verse as well.

Overall, "Gotta Survive" is a decently made song for a couple of beginners.

Closing Advice:
My main criticism for these two is that I was bored at how uncreative and uninspiring it was for a song that was supposed to energize and hype up the listener. Get creative and don't fall into the trap of feeling like it's OK to just rap a verse on a song, let the sample on the chorus run and be done with it. You'll only receive as much love for the track as you put into it!

-FD

Grade (Scale of 5):Beat: 2
Lyrics: 2
Rapping: 2
Total Vibe: 2
Overall Grade: 2

Editor's note: If you would like your song listened to and reviewed, post your song up in the "Audio Session" forum on our message board for consideration! http://www.aznraps.com/forums/