Album Review
(written and reviewed back in 9/27/2004 under PINOYRAP.COM)
Title: First Spark
Artist: Mista Blaze
Year: 2004
Label: Xax
By Webmasta
First Spark is the debut album of one of the latest and most respected artist in pinoy rap, Mista Blaze. To people, he is known for his unique vocals which resembles that of Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs N Harmony. Instead of impersonations or revised versions of the groups’ popular tracks, Mista Blaze comes out with original tracks, lyrics and a totally different style. In First Spark, Mista Blaze brings out different kinds of tracks from smooth to hardcore.
A review of the tracks
There were a total of sixteen tracks in First Spark. Eleven are rap tracks while the rest are melodic soul. The tracks are mostly in English with some tagalog on the chorus.
- Intro”: Skit.
- “Ill-City Luv”: The first track on the album. This track is about Mista Blaze’s love, pride and life for his family, friends and especially to his hometown, Iloilo or Ill-City. An energetic track especially the beats, flow and delivery.
- “Weekend Thang”: A track about nightlife. From parties and women, Mista Blaze raps about having fun on an evening weekend. A nice track with mild beats, flow and with the support of MC. Chase and DJ. Arbie Won.
- “Wala Ng Hahanapin Pa”: To me, this is the best track in the album. In this track, Mista Blaze raps about love. A smooth laid-back track with a nice flow and beats that remind me of Gary Valenciano’s early 80s love songs.
- “For my Peeps”: A freestyle track with moderately hard boucing beats from DJ. Flux, hard delivery and support from MC. Chase.
- “Blow It To The Wind”: A nice smooth track about relaxing and getting high. With chilling beats, flow and with vocalist Gia Lacson on the chorus, this is another of my favorite tracks.
- “Strangewoman”: A reggae like track about Mista Blaze’s experience of meeting a mysterious woman and getting high. A track with a smooth flow and some Carribean and Latin influence.
- “Summer’s Gone”: This is also one of the best tracks in the album. A track about memories and a broken relationship. One of my favorites in this track is the smooth flow and mild beats with a fast-paced chorus. This is one track that you would like to play while crusing on an open highway.
- “Rainy Dayz”: An expressive track. In this track, Mista Blaze raps about love, past relationships and searching for a new one. Mild beats, flow and vocalist Cheesy Lopez on the chorus.
- “I Know You’re Mine”: A accoustic style track about expression of love. Nice track with smooth guitars and vocals.
- “Set Me Free”: An expressive track about world problems with a strong message of love and prayer. Mild beats and flow support this track.
- “Living On The Last Dayz”: One of the serious tracks in the album. In this track, Mista Blaze raps about today’s world problems with messages of revelation and the end of the world. Mild beats and flow support the track’s subject matter.
- “It’s On”: A all-star battle track. This track is freestyle with hard beats, flow and a battlefield setting. The track also features Skick-N-Sly Kane, Gobas of C-4 and Gloc-9. In fact, Gloc-9’s flow in this track is the most hardcore I’ve listen to compared to his other tracks.
- “Bounze”: Just like the title, a bouncing track. One of the nice things about this track is the hard chorus. Mista Blaze’s vocals and flow are ok for this track. But the beats are a little hard to support his vocals. In all, this track is still nice to listen to and gives an energetic mood from the seriousness of the last tracks.
- “Knock Knock”: This track is a remix of Mista Blaze’s debut track on DJ. Arbie Won’s United Freestyle Vol. II album. Honestly, I find the original track better compared to this remix. The track is unnecessary for this album especially censoring the explicit lyrics.
- “Why You Hatin'”: The final track in the album. Mista Blaze ends this album with a freestyle track about hate. The beats are ok but the flow is mild. The track is also supported by Slick-N-Sly Kane.
Summary
First Spark is truly a great debut album for an upcoming pinoy rap artist. The tracks are melodic and provides a different alternative from hardcore pinoy rap music. If you’re like to listen to Bone Thugs N Harmony or their style of music, this album won’t disappoint you.
+
- Nice production, tracks and layout
- Smooth tracks, lyrics and subject matter
- Groovy lyrical and vocal delivery
–
- Some of the revised tracks are unnecessary for the album
Favorite track: “Wala Ng Hahanapin Pa”
Least favorite track: “Bounze”
Overall Review: 4/5
