Music Review: @IamNovaTribe x @Beezy430 – Tangents & Distractions

It is time for me to be honest: I had no idea that Beezy was taking producing seriously. Of course I understood/admired his access to all of the instrumentals that hip hop had to offer. I also thoroughly enjoyed his commentary about production and how they mesh with lyrics through his album reviews. But Beezy as a producer? This was not the expected direction of a man better known for calling A.S.A.P Rocky’s mixtape trash or recycle binning Mac Miller’s last retail album.

Plus, the main attraction over his beats was going to be Nova. I haven’t heard Nova since “W.E.E.D.” off of the Dead End Hip Hop mixtape.

So, what could really be made of Tangents & Distractions?

With thorough listens, it can be said that this was a project of dope rhymes, well-crafted production, and chemistry.

Impressively, Beezy’s production is both fresh and vintage at the same time. Just as easily as he will flip a sample inspired production, he will also use something that is actually more electronic and/or sample free. With gems like the soul stirring “Everything’s Change” matched with the sonic madness of “Armageddon”, there will be some diversity to the project. While Beezy’s production isn’t “fully developed”, it is far from “amateur sounding”. In summary, it is apparent that Beezy is acclimated to using different musical approaches.

As far as being an up and coming microphone master, Nova puts in much effort. Any man that flips lyrics about “soul being in flux capacitor”, “time travel/Delorean trips”, and “getting Doc to make him a beat” is someone that is working to make some connections with subsequent line and rhyme. On “Omelette/World Is Mine”, Nova takes note that “people turn to ashes for the money you earn (urn)” and if he “didn’t poop/would people be shit?/ Nope”. Although his style isn’t for everyone, it can be understood that the listener has to respect his exertion. In short, Nova puts in work and it shows.

To be honest, the only thing that I could say to detract from this project was its lack of a theme/focus and talent not fully realized. This project screams “people coming together to have fun in the studio”. With that, you have the variation of production from Beezy and Nova mainly ripping mics. Once Beezy really envelops himself into being a “full-fledged producer” and Nova concentrates his nimble lyrical expressions will we truly realize the possibilities of this duo. However, we haven’t truly seen what their potential can actually produce.

With Saire Music’s airy vocals being the only guest appearance on the tracks, Nova and Beezy crafted a project with some replay value. Even if they haven’t reached the zenith of their talents, they constructed a free album that eloquently expresses their labors to make good music. Tangents & Distractions can come off as atypical from the norm in hip hop. This is actually fine. Be forewarned: this is only the beginning for this due because there is more to come.