New Music: Painting Pictures in the Darkness by Just Poets
Ottawa hip-hop trio Just Poets, consisting of producer Jeepz and emcees Just Peace and Street Scholar, just dropped their second album Painting Pictures in the Darkness.
The album gets started with smooth bass and a subtle tickling of the ivory, which is quickly complimented by the lyrical flow of Just Peace and Street Scholar on the opening track “Poetically Just.” Jeepz has done it again masterfully crafting and weaving laid back beats with heavy ones throughout a solid album. Listen to “Night Falls” if you are looking for real heavy beats.
The emcees, Just Peace and Street Scholar, demonstrate once again that they are on the top of their game commandingly laying down rhyme after rhyme and transitioning off each other in ways that only people who have been a team for years could. There are several moments that make you stop and go “damn, did they just say that?” on this album. One line that really sticks out is the third track “Soul Remembered.” “I listen to the birds but i don’t do twitter,” is repeated several times during the song. So simple and clever. Then factor in they also included a wicked sample of an interview with Shad on the track that one can’t help but love. The other song that has me reaching to click the repeat button is “Noticing Change.” The opening verse is catchy, smart and makes me bob my head non-stop. Then after the chorus the spitting really starts as they have no fear rapping at you quick and then slowing it back down to flow you back into the chorus.
Hip hop in Ottawa is very much alive. With Painting Pictures in the Darkness, Just Poets have further solidified their place in the scene. Check out the album streaming below, as well as a video for one of my favourite tracks off the album “Noticing A Change.”