Juse - Global Casino Album Review
29 May 2006 // A review by Dilemma
Global Casino is a Rap/Hip-Hop infused representation of Roots Kiwi music because it is very proud of its beginning and a place called South Auckland.
It opens with
Ride 'Till I Die which is a catchy first tune to set the tone for the rest of the tracks. The fourth track tied up starts with a harmonised hook into the song but I get over the Rap really quickly as it was monotonous and repetitive.
The Warmth with
Savage will resonate with all junior gangster rappers that the track is obviously targeting. I have trouble believing this track as an honest sound in this recording as the music and lyrics stop complementing each other, not to mention lacking back up from the first 7 tracks.
The last 7 draw deeper into gangster Rap and the tone of the CD changes once again. The constant references and comparison to gangsters and rappers make me lose more interest despite innovatively compiling guest
artists on the CD which eventually helps to break up the similar sounding backing tracks on the CD. As tracks play out it becomes more apparent that the lyrics are forced rather than genuine representations of struggle that would make the songs more understandable. The most notable in play up position with the very English accents and Spanish Rap on track 11 called
This Goes Out To You that finally add something subtle to keep the music interesting. I would have this CD as low background music in a store or café but would not have it exploding out of my car stereo, however in saying that I can imagine that this artist will mature over time and find his own sound.
R3/5 I feel like I have hear this CD before and will hear it again, and it will sit in my CD rack.
Saving grace –
South Pacific and
Same Old Issues because they are understated and different to the rest of the tracks on this CD.
About Juse
Juse is a beatmaking producer from Auckland, New Zealand. He is a co-founder and kai?rahi (advisor) at Woodcut Music, a music production and publishing company based in Auckland.
The son of Aotearoa rocker Tommy Ferguson, Juse's love for music started early, the product of spending his early years living in a nightclub. At the age of 13 he bought his first turntable and set about reconstructing it, and with an old tape-deck he experimented with cutting and fading… and his passion for DJ’ing and production began. This led to DJ work and he became the resident DJ at Escape, a popular Ponsonby nightclub in the early nineties, as well as the DJ for Dam Native, the legendary New Zealand Hip Hop innovators, at the tender age of 18.
Juse's passion lies in the evolving Pacific Hip Hop movement. Back in the day, as a colleague and collaborator with Che Fu and King Kapisi and other members of the Auckland collective ‘The Token Village’ in the 90’s in New Zealand, Juse was a part of a generation of New Zealand and Pacific artists that helped define the unique identity of New Zealand Hip Hop.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Juse