Vendetta

Vendetta

An album by Tony Reaper

Review presented by Warren Peace

Listen to Vendetta by Tony Reaper

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The Intro

Tony Reaper, an artist who has done a bit of traveling in his life, came to The Write Reviews through social media expressing he had come across the website and enjoyed the reviews. Recently releasing Vendetta, Tony Reaper requested a review of his album. Diving into his work, I found a lot of depth and meaningful lyrics behind his first two tracks and decided to do it. So here it is, the album titled “Vendetta” from artist Tony Reaper. Let’s see what the breakdown has in store…

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The Album

1- Tracks In The Snow

The instrumental on the opening track has an interchangeable tempo, allowing an emcee to spit lyrics quickly or at a slower pace, or both, to its rhythm. I feel a broad range of topics would go great with the music also, and this type of diversity within the beat is not something heard as much as you would think. That being said, the instrumental is a solid choice to kick off the album. Tony Reaper brings showcases his abilities a bit to this song within his lyrics. The verse to begin the entire album throws metaphors to the audience laced with a lot of obvious bouts with depression and addiction, looking for a way to defeat the many demons that come with both. I like the hook. It’s pretty catchy, has a deep meaning within the words, and sounds pretty good vocally. The second verse gives a hint of winning the battle, but quickly will relinquish that idea as Reaper gets triggered and falls back into the fight. His first few lines in the last verse reach the audience softly, admitting to feeling drained and revealing a personal, painful truth that is nothing less than heartbreaking. Throughout the song, Reaper has a great use of metaphors, giving his delivery a poetic approach combined with real feel lyrics. It isn’t easy to face our reality in life sometimes, but Reaper does a great job of coming to terms with his in Tracks In The Snow. Impressive start to the album, landing a spot on the Featured Tracks right off the bat. Be sure to check out the video for Tracks In The Snow below!

2- If I Fall

The beat speeds things up on If I Fall. Heads are sure to nod along with the music on this one as some intensity and energy pulsate through to the audience. The chorus is catchy and relatable to nearly everyone on some level or another. Tony Reaper enters the track with his vocals sounding very clean and aggressive with his delivery. After a few lines, auto tune starts to creep in and, while it doesn’t sound bad necessarily, it completely takes over. Honestly, I prefer the rawness felt in his first few lines, and I even feel the bit of auto tune mixed with the background vocals would’ve still sounded great. Reaper gets on a self hype kick by the end of the verse, maintaining a good presence to his delivery. With the second verse Reaper ties in several metaphors and similes while seeming to bring a battle-type approach in his lyrics. Overall, If I Fall is great from top to bottom. Even though I dislike the choice of using auto tune instead of keeping Tony Reaper’s aggressive tone to shine through, this track deserves a spot among the Featured Tracks.

3- Vendetta feat. unk.nown

I’m feeling this beat, it has a quick rhythm and makes me want to nod along with the thunder from the speakers. Tony Reaper doesn’t wait long to go in on Vendetta, rapping about being tired of people talking trash and how he is about to making that change. He switches up his speed in his delivery a couple of times, which is good because it keeps things interesting, but here it seems like it causes his flow to suffer due to the formatting of it. For example, having one shorter line then another shorter line followed by a line crammed with words and ending with a shorter line again doesn’t really match up. Pairing the length of lines seems to work best when switching up speeds in a verse without the flow suffering at all. The chorus comes in and I would have to say Im not really a fan of it. First, the auto tune is back and completely distracts from the rest of the song’s flow. And second, I feel the wording of the lines in the hook are not as powerful as they could be. The hook does sums up the topic of the track and is on time with the rhythm of the beat, though. I really enjoy Tony Reaper’s energy and emotion in his delivery on this track as he continues onto the second verse. He speaks about coming up in the world of hip hop and how he knows people wish they would’ve been supportive now that he is going somewhere. He does seem to get off topic at the end of the verse though, and just goes on a tangent while doing it, all the way to the conclusion of his verse. Unk.nown has the last verse on Vendetta, seeming to go for more of a self-hype angle while showcasing his ability to spit quick. He has good presence on the microphone. Vendetta is an alright track, but not at the level as the previous two in my opinion. It is a shame because this is the title of the album as well, so I feel it would’ve been better as a whole.

4- Come Here feat. Shane Fontaine, C-Real, Lil L,ew, Mista Cody Gibbons, and KBandz

Off the beat, I am liking the beat. With a softer approach then any of the songs before it, Come Here’s instrumental gives the audience an automatic feeling the song will be about a relationship or something of the sort. The song dives right into the chorus, sung by Shane Fontaine, proving that I was right about the mood the beat creates. In the first verse C-Real basically sweet talks the women. There’s not much else to his verse. He has a solid flow, stays on topic, but doesn’t really stand out to me. The auto tune is very much in play on this track, and while I’m not a fan of it here either, I feel this is the most compatible style of song for auto tune get used in comparison to the other times it gets used on the album. On the second verse Lil Lew follows the lead of C-Real, but delivers a better overall verse in my opinion. Mista Cody Gibbons is on the third verse, my favorite of the track, and really stands out with not only the lyrics, but the delivery and style brought to the audience. The next verse introduces KBandz and feels more like a bridge than a verse, but I like the singing feeling brought out, adding another layer to the song. Tony Reaper comes onto the track with a different angle. Instead of sweet talking the women or sugar-coating his verse, he gives a direct approach to his lyrics and is blunt with his lines. Reaper’s verse is now up there with Mista Cody Gibbons for my favorite verses of the song. While Come Here isn’t my favorite track of the album, it is definitely a solid addition to Vendetta.

5- Empty (Farewell) feat. Myndst8

The tone of the album completely switches when Empty begins playing through the speakers, taking it back to the beginning of the album and the entire feeling Tracks In The Snow created. The difference between Empty (Farewell) and Tracks In The Snow is this song has a much rougher sound and raw vocals involved, which is a plus in my opinion. Tracks In The Snow has a hook that is more likely to stick in the heads of listeners and the verses feel more polished than the ones displayed here when it comes to the lyrics. Myndst8 adds a fresh voice on this track, though, with the last verse. Empty (Farewell) is not a bad song at all, though, and the audience will be able to relate to this song if they were able to relate to Tracks In The Snow.

6- Revolutional

The beat has a slow beginning, then a chorus sung and using auto tune comes in. As I’ve stated, not a fan of the auto tune but the lyrics to the hook are well put together. Tony Reaper gets on the microphone and speaks about overcoming the naysayers again, this time with a little more emotion in his voice and when he switches up the speed in his flow, it doesn’t feel off or out of sync at all. The second verse begins with Reaper maintaining that speed, and continues where he left off in the first verse while including some lines directed to an ex or perhaps more than one ex. I feel the verses are very similar to stuff we have already heard and the hook would’ve been better without auto tune, this is another solid addition to Vendetta.

7- Threat To Society feat. C-Real and Lil Lew

Starting off with a conversation borrowed from a movie, it seems, that I can’t put my finger on at the moment, but it sounds familiar. I like how the beat was a creepy, eerie feel to it. The hook is cool, something different from what we have heard before. Obviously this will be a track with several artists from the label going onto the beat. C-Real has the first verse, utilizing a solid flow and good microphone presence. Lil Lew doesn’t have as smooth of a flow as C-Real and doesn’t really say anything jaw-dropping or head turning. Reaper has the third verse, and within the first couple of lines he said something that made me stop what I was doing. I really do not see any appropriate time that it is okay for a white guy to use the N word, especially now with all the race stuff going around social media. I also do not see any number of people from within our the public being happy about it or accepting it without disdain, but I feel it is going to causes lot of people to turn away from the music. All in all, I felt this track could have been much harder.

8- Iron Scythe feat. Krissi Harris

This beat is cool, having a bounce to it that is pretty appealing. Tony Reaper starts it off with a hook that reaches for the party section of the audience. Not as catchy as most club/dance geared songs usually are, the hook is still enjoyable. Reaper’s verses sticks to the topic and he has fun with his lines, keeping things lighter than any of the other tracks on the album. Barely, but JUST barely, Iron Scythe concludes Vendetta as the last Featured Track of the album.

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Featured Tracks

Tracks In The Snow, If I Fall, and Iron Scythe.

The Write Up

Tony Reaper displays a lot of potential within the confines of Vendetta’s track list. His biggest upside is his microphone presence and ability to push his emotions through his lyrics to listeners. Reaper also has a lot of relatable material for the audience and opens up for everyone in his music. His flow seems a little awkward sometimes, usually from too many words packed into a line randomly. Practicing multiple syllable rhyme scheme would be helpful, too. Tony Reaper does a great job with his metaphors and real to life lyrics, but could develop his punch lines and wordplay to keep things a little more interesting. When everything is said and done, Vendetta has some strong points that cannot be overlooked, which is why The Write Reviews will stay updated on his next album, and will drop a review right here when it does!

Star Status

★★

(2 out of 5 stars)

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