Traff the Wiz Griper review
www.traffthewiz.com Traff the Wiz has been doing Hip Hop for over a decade. In that time he was the first recipient of the award for Best Hip Hop/Spoken Word in the Zoo Music Awards in his city and shared the stage with Warren G, Nappy Roots, Zion I, Dead Prez, Abstract Rude, Myka9, Lyrics Born, 2mex, Awol One, Blueprint, Andre Nikatina, Grammy Nominated artist Q. Dot, Dizzy Wright, comedian Donnell Rawlins of Chappelles Show and many more. He was also invited to perform in Los Angeles at the prestigious Flow & Tell showcase during the spring
of 2016. I started following him in 2014 back with Hip Rock Magazine and knew that he had the potential to hit that professional sounding mark. Now, it's 2017 and in August, Traff the Wiz released Griper which I took a shovel to. When an album has more than 10 songs I decline to do a track by track review. Instead I give a summary of what I liked and didn't. I'm happy to report that Griper starts off with a solid one-two punch! As the album went on I was impressed with the quality that Traff exuded not just in his lyrics but that professionalism I thought he'd get to had arrived! This is the Traff I knew would emerge. I absolutely loved every beat on this album. The variety kept me interested and didn't give me a desire to quickly click through the songs. Plus, I've always enjoyed Traff's lyrics and this album is a pinnacle of educated and well thought out messages. Traff was clear, displayed intelligence, and made excellent points. Another thing that impressed me was when he got a little rock-vocally in songs like Take Notes and when he snuck some smooth singing in Martini. He also launched some speed rapping in now and then that changed things up. Some of my favorite songs were Native Tongue, Book Report and Flash Final with Take Notes as my absolute favorite. It is important to note that very few were passable which adds to the longevity of this album. I didn't care a whole lot for most of the songs with guest artists. It's not that they were bad it's just that I felt that the guests on some of his tracks lacked an emotional standard set highly by Traff. They seemed a bit off. Sadly, the song Natural Disaster's excellent lyrics and beat were diminished greatly by the female vocal. This song annoyed me quickly and I couldn't stand to sit through it. I don't know if she was off key or maybe he was or just the pitch didn't match. Whatever it was, it sent me away after about half
way through it.
One one end of the shovel: Traff's vocals have come a long way to finally reach the professional level I thought he could reach. Every beat was excellent and every lyric was intelligent, made sense and packed with emotion I could feel. The variety in vocal styles here and there sprinkled with occasional subject matter variety and perfectly produced tracks made this album entertaining. It never felt rushed or redundant. Plus, the sound of his natural voice is likeable.
On the other end of the shovel:
When most of Traff the Wiz's guest artists performed on some of the tracks it just didn't vibe well with me. I don't know if it's the vocal style that contrasted or if the other artists lacked that feeling of emotion captured so easily by Traff. Whatever it was, it often made me feel like skipping the track. And for my ears, Natural Disaster really was a disaster to listen to with the female vocal.
How deep can I dig this? With a stellar lineup of 14 excellent beats and intelligent lyrics that capture emotion and tells a variety of stories, the ability to warrant future listening is strong. I appreciate the surprises sprinkled in such as his rock sounding yells once or twice to a decent sounding, smooth singing attempt in rare other times. Some who prefer ebonics and same ol' trashy lyrics might set this aside as well as those who may not comprehend such an educated level of story telling. For me, I can look past Natural Disaster and find a gold mine that finally brings Traff the Wiz to a professional sounding artist. Yes, in my ears that little bit of polish he needed is present and in glorious display here. I dig Griper 9 out of 10 feet deep!