░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████████████████████████▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████████ ███████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████░ ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████ ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████ V E T E R A N S ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████ ██████████ █████████ ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████▓ ░░█████████ █████████ █████▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░██████████ █████████ █████▒░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░░█████████ █████████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░█████████ ████████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░████ U R B A N ░░██████████████████ U N I T E D █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ████ ████ ░░████████████████ █████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░████ ████ ░████████████████ ░█████ █████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░██████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████▒ ░████ ████ ░████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░██████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████ ░██████████ ░█████████▓ ░███████████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░█████ ░█████████ ░░████████ ░█████████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░█████ ░███████ ░░██████ ░███████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░██████ █████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░███████ ░░████ ███████░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░████████ ░███ ████████░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░█████▓▓██ ░░██ ██▓▓█████░░░░░░ ░░░░░█████▓▓▓██ ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ██▓▓▓█████░░░░░ ░░░█████▓▓▓█▓██ ║ r e l e a s e i n f o ║ ██▓█▓▓▓█████░░░ ░░▓████▓▓███▓██ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ██▓███▓▓█████░░ ░░████▓▓████▓██ ██▓████▓▓████░░ ░█████▓█████▓██ ▌Artist__│ Cas Metah & Wonder Brown ██▓█████▓█████░ ░████▓▓██▒██▓██ ▌Title___│ The Darke Bros. ██▓█████▓▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Label___│ Illect Recordings ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Genre___│ Hip-Hop ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Format__│ Album ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Year____│ 2012 ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░░████▓█████▓██ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██▓█████▓████░░ ░░████▓█████▓██ ▌Time____│ 58:22 ██▓█████▓████░░ ░░░████▓████▓██ ▌Size____│ 140.33 MB ██▓████▓████░░░ ░░░░███▓▓███▓██ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██▓███▓▓███░░░░ ░░░░░███▓▓▓█▓██ ▌Source__│ Web Store ██▓█▓▓▓███░░░░░ ░░░░░░████▓▓▓██ ▌Quality_│ 320 kbps ██▓▓▓████░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░████████ ▌URL_____│ play.google.com ████████░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░██████ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██████░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░███ ███░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ T R A C K S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ 01. Nan Knew (Prod. Theory Hazit) 2:53 ░░ 02. The Way I Cry (Feat. Ruffian) (Prod. Theory Hazit) 4:42 ░░ 03. Mind Bender (Prod. Vintage) 4:37 ░░ 04. The Same State (Interlude) (Prod. Deftone) 1:13 ░░ 05. I Know (Feat. Lyriz) (Prod. Lil Jay) 4:15 ░░ 06. In Or Out (Feat. Soul P) (Prod. Vintage) 3:57 ░░ 07. Back And Forth (Prod. MattmaN) 2:56 ░░ 08. Over And Over (Interlude) (Prod. Hub) 1:04 ░░ 09. She's Gone (Prod. So Crates) 3:32 ░░ 10. The Struggle (Feat. Freddie Bruno & Holmskillit) (Prod. 3:50 ░░ Vintage) ░░ 11. Hurt (Feat. JustMe) (Prod. JustMe) 4:01 ░░ 12. Famous Lovers Pt. 2 (Feat. Mouf Warren) (Prod. Vintage) 4:01 ░░ 13. Bros. On The Run (Interlude) (Prod. Theory Hazit) 1:08 ░░ 14. Hold On 2012 (Feat. Holmskillit) (Prod. DT Of Clan 4:55 ░░ Destined) ░░ 15. Drowning Man (Feat. Copywrite & Elias) (Prod. J. Rawls) 4:01 ░░ 16. Winding Down (Feat. Holmskillit) (Prod. Fab Da Eclectic) 3:40 ░░ 17. The Yah And The Yang (Feat. Tony Campolo) (Prod. MattmaN) 3:37 ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ N O T E S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ Cas Metah and Wonder Brown, both of Scribbling Idiots, are The Darke ░░ Bros. With a whole host of releases between them, youÆve probably already ░░ heard of them and checked some of their music. If not, their new album ░░ The Darke Bros. on Illect Recordings isnÆt a bad place to start ░░ familiarizing yourself. ░░ ░░ The album has a very strong start with some of its best tracks heading up ░░ the project. Nan Knew, The Way I Cry and Mindbender are cuts that stick ░░ in the mind long after listening. ThereÆs a brief skit and then things ░░ are back on track with another three memorable songs: I Know, In Or Out ░░ and Back And Forth (and the unforgettable beat skit Over and Over). ░░ Things pick up again with Drowning Man which features Elias and Copywrite ░░ over a J. Rawls beat and Winding Down featuring Holmskillit û if the ░░ album had only the aforementioned tracks (and Bros. On The Run) IÆd have ░░ been satisfied. As it happens you get 7 other tracks on top of those, ░░ just to ensure you get your moneyÆs worth. None of these 7 are ░░ particularly bad; every good album has standout tracks which overshadow ░░ the more conspicuous ones. ░░ ░░ One strong point in the LPÆs favor is that it sounds like a secular ░░ record and has escaped the watering-down that some Christian Hip Hop ░░ releases seem to have received. IÆm not talking in terms of subject ░░ matter, but more in terms of the production and the rap styles and flows. ░░ Beats from Theory Hazit, Vintage, Mattman and J. Rawls contribute well to ░░ the weighty sound of the LP. Cas MetahÆs work in secular Hip Hop circles ░░ may provide reasoning for this although the same could be said for the ░░ Illect Recordings catalog as a whole, including past releases from ░░ Scribbling Idiots and Cas Metah. This is just real Hip Hop that any head ░░ could connect with. ░░ ░░ So if an unconverted Hip Hop fan did bump this, what messages would they ░░ take away? TheyÆd mainly realize that Christianity does not provide ░░ secret formulas for a happy life (contrary to the teachings of some ░░ churches) and that we rely on one who is able to forgive us and give us ░░ eternal life: ôIÆve been forth and back between alive and dead, then ░░ finally fed up when it was my time to get up, down I got on my rotten ░░ knees and out called æpleaseÆ to God almighty for my autobiographyà self ░░ wasnÆt righting the wrongsö (from The Way I Cry). ItÆs lyrics like these, ░░ although the project is not heavy with them, which set the context for ░░ the overall theme û that life can be very tough. The songs, usually ░░ implicitly, point towards sin as the root cause of strife in this world ░░ and the MCs are very honest about their own struggles: ôI long for the ░░ nights when thereÆll be no darkà because despite faith founded, it ainÆt ░░ grounded, somehow I always end up under, drowning in my surroundingsàIÆm ░░ a drowning man, thought I could standàjust reach out your hand, I wanna ░░ believe but I just donÆt understandàI see these black tears of ink, are ░░ dripping again, holding my breath under water as IÆm swimming in sin.ö ░░ ░░ Both MCs bring their A-game on this release and the subject matter is so ░░ brutally honest that most of us will relate to the feelings they portray ░░ û for some it may be a breath of fresh air as the realization comes that ░░ others out there feel the same way as they do. When music empathizes it ░░ connects with the listener and in doing so is automatically successful in ░░ having a valued impact û The Darke Bros. album does just that. Listen to ░░ it, and remember, youÆre not the only one. ░░ ░░█ ░░███ ░█ ░░░░██ █▓█ ████░ ░░░░░██ y o o v e e y o o █████ █████ ░░░░░░██ g o t t h e ▒████░ ██▒▒██ ░░░░░░░█ ░ ██▓██ ▓█▒██ ░░░░░░░█ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ ▒▓███ ▒███ ░░░░░░░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ ░███████ ████░ ░███ ░░░░░░░█ ░███░███░█ █░███░███ █████████▒ █████ ██ ░░░░░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░░░█ ██████████████ █████ █ ░░░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ██████████████████ ████▓ ░░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ████████████████████▒ ░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ▓██████▒▒▒▒███████░ ░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ▓█████▒███████████ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ █████▒▒░████████ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ██▓██▒██▓███▒ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░░░█ ██████████ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░███░█ ░███ ▒███████ /─────────────────────────\ ░░░██ ███ ░| shouts 2 all the groups |░ ░░░░██ ████ ░| putting out |░ ░░░░░██ █████ ░| quality music |░ ░░░░░░███ ████▒ \─────────────────────────/ ░░░░░░░▓▓█████████████▒ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀