8,000,000 Stories (Instrumentals)

Album review

Although Columbus, Ohio's Soul Position had released a five-song EP the previous year, 2003's 8 Million Stories is the group's first full-length record, and is definitely a strong debut. Blueprint's songs all tell stories of people and the situations they might find themselves in. The events can be humorous (as in "The Jerry Springer Episode"), critical ("Look of Pain," "F*ckajob"), or just explanatory ("Run," "Right Place, Wrong Time"), but they're always very detailed and good at capturing listeners' attention. Yes, Blueprint can be overly dramatic (almost all of his serious tales end in death or destruction of some sort), but this can be excused by the fact that he is very sincerely trying to point out and comment on problems in American society. And anyway, he lightens the mood of the record by inserting more playful songs between the heavier ones, like the three-part "Candyland," in which he reminisces on growing up in the '80s, alphabetically listing toys and TV shows (how many hip-hop albums reference popples?) in "Part 1," high school activities (that's a loose definition, as both "Coca-Cola jackets" and "feeling girls' booties" are included) in "Part 2," and types of candy in "Part 3," all over a lush beat. And it's no mistaking that RJD2's the one making the music for Soul Position. 8 Million Stories sounds like it was taken right from the Dead Ringer sessions, complete with descending, melancholic guitar and piano lines, and funk-inspired rhythms. This all goes well with Blueprint's delivery, which incorporates a cadenced, almost spoken word style that RJD2 works to highlight with his use of both melodic instrumentation and silence. It's a successful combination, with very few things that fall short ("Run" may be the sole example of a song that doesn't quite make it, with an overuse of the title word that just becomes boring, even though the subject matter -- escape, avoidance, and fear -- is fairly provocative and interesting). 8 Million Stories is quite promising, and definitely puts Soul Position on track to be another great producer/MC combination.
© Marisa Brown /TiVo