Surreal - Pardon My Dust (2008)

1. Intro
2. Mama Don’t Cry
3. God Speed produced by Rek One
4. The Surface feat. Dillion Maurer prod. by Batsauce
5. Downtown Trodden prod. by nemo G
6. Time Is Of The Essence featuring Izrael Bell produced by Rek One
7. Stay The Same
8. The First Chapter produced by Symbolyc One
9. Rainy Eve
10. The Recipe
11. Pops Lullaby
12. Mama Don’t Cry (Five Quartz Remix)
13. Far Away featuring Othello and Jacewon produced by Def Dave
14. The Pursuit featuring Supastition & Brotha Soul produced by Dela

Far away

Mama don't cry

First chapter

"Surreal is another guy that has been around for a minute that I have continued to sleep on. He dropped his first single back in 1998 and has been involved in other small projects over the years. 2006 ended up being a busy year for the then Florida based MC, with two solid albums dropping in the same year. One with DJ Balance (Future Classic) the other with The Sound Providers (True Indeed). Now hes moved on to the bright and sunny smog laden landscape of LA and has recently dropped his third album "Pardon My Dust" In 2008.

It’s evident from when you hear the first track that the change of scenery has changed his delivery. His flow has slowed down a little bit which is better for his style in my opinon because now he sounds more focused and more smooth over the beats. The lyrics are very solid throughout and are filled with great imagery but nothing really mind blowing. Guest apperances come from Supastition, Izrael Bell, Brotha Soul and Dillion Maurer; everyone comes correct on there verses, especially Supastion and Brotha Soul on "Pursuit".

"Pardon My Dust" relys more on piano & guitar rhythems for the most part instead of the normal tradtional boombap sound of hip hop to provide a tranquil jazzy soundscape much like the one found "True Indeed" But some of the beats were really of hit or miss. Surreal handles the production for 5/14 tracks with the rest coming Rek One, Symbolyc One, Five Quartz, Dela, Batsauce, Neemo and Def Dave. While all them are caple producers they really don’t come with enough variety in there sound to keeps things entertaining.

To me this is not Surreal’s best work. While the lyrics are definatly there the production unfortunately hampers this release from being as good as his previous two albums. But there are still several songs song that stand out that should be enough to give this album a listen." Thefindmagazine.

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