MC Melodee & producers team Cookin Soul first met during a 2011 tour. They immediately click and quickly create a handfull of great tracks, most notably “Check Out Melodee”, “Cha Cha Cha” and “Genius” (featuring Mac Miller). These tracks are compiled on the Whoo Kid hosted mixtape “Check Out Melodee”. Besides Mac Miller the mixtape features Smiff-n-Wessun, Ohno, Mucho Muchacho & many more. Aside from here solo work MC Melodee was also one half of the duo La Melodia, who released critically acclaimed albums “Vibin High” and “Electronic Love”. Unfortunately early 2013 Melodee and producer INT decide to split up. This however leaves more room to focus on her solo offerings.
April 2013 sees the release of Melodee’s first official solo album “My Tape Deck. Fully produced by Cookin Soul they aim to take us back to the 90’s sound of hip hop. Boombap drums accompanied by deep, soulfull basslines and skillfully picked samples. Now I’m a huge 90’s fan anyways but in a time where most hip hop productions sound more like house tracks MC Melodee’s “My Tape Deck” is a breath of fresh air.
On “My Tape Deck” Melodee reveals a more personal side trough tracks like “Firstborn” (featuring Bootie Brown from The Pharcyde & Feliciana), talking about family, and “Up In The Clouds” deals with losing and finding your path in life.
The aforementioned Pharcyde are a great example to compare the sound & feel of this album with. “Night Life” (featuring Fiend / Jet Life Records) & “Games You Play” give me Souls Of Misschief vibe.
With only two featurings on this album MC Melodee more than holds her own throughout “My Tape Deck”. With 11 tracks “My Tape Deck” clocks in at about 32 minutes, leaves me wanting a bit more. But that’s just a minor complaint I guess. Although based in the Netherlands Melodee finds most of her success in other countries, such as Germany and Spain. Which is great cause it leaves plenty of room to grow, in contrary to most Dutch artists who seem to focus on national successes.
If you’re longing for an updated version of the best the 90’s had to offer be sure to check out “My Tape Deck”, you will not be dissapointed!
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