Free Fall

Free Fall is the fetus-as-fully-grown-ferris wheel of Edgewize (He's the rapper) and Self Destruct (He's the D.J.). Hailing from San Jose, the pair brims with the usual unusual flourishes in terms of both production and styling. This knack for bits of quirkiness becomes apparent on "DNA", The Gray Area's aural prolegomenon, during which its final twenty seconds unravel into a into managed mania.

Edgewize from jump kicks you in the stomach like nut pain or strong, freshly-brewed coffee. His ability to grab the narrative by its throat and guide it through Self Destruct's measured, announced beat maze is the highlight of The Gray Area. Self Destruct goes to great lengths in laying down a terrain that is as tense and tendentious as it is toe-tappable and triumphant. The Gray Area's glue and guts is the easy combination of Edgewize's fearlessness and Self Destruct's pepper spray-production photon beam.

"Lez B Nauts", track two, specifically spotlights Edgewize's shrewd storytelling: Here he is recounting an encounter with the situational impossibility that is a woman. It's universal, uniting, and unique; Self Destruct's pluck providing the pockmarked platform upon which his partner proudly pontificates. All of that opens into "Moses", the opulently apocalyptic apex of Free Fall's conceptual showmanship. "This the latest shit I ever wrote, when it hits, I HOPE IT HURTS" - May I have another serving of that please? Edgewize poses the potent query: "So are you playin' yourself...or with yourself...?!?" Which, if it's not something I ask myself every day, I certainly confront its multitude of philosophical implications weekly. Self Destruct's stirring, slamming, clanking break and rib-cracking, chip-stacking bass sample conclusively clap the ears of any lingering doubters. It's an cacophonous aesthetic that bangs like drive-in movie car sex during a car chase scene.

This approximately mark's the EP's midway point and the remainder does feel condensed, but I suppose that's the nature of the EP as it exists. "Day Breaks" is a poetic, pulsating, poison-tipped dart that, anew, showcases the strengths of both puzzle pieces. Granted its sparse on the surface with a run time clocking in at under ninety seconds. But it fills out its frame fervently featuring a frenetic, forward-thinking Edgewize flipping his wig Spatula Style. Self Destruct lurks prominently shooting stuttering drums at his partner while utilizing an "Oooohhh!" loop to surgical precision. Albeit brief, The Gray Area is an engaging, explosive introduction to Edgewize who is the possessor of an enjoyable self-righteousness that sounds like it was transplanted live from 1996. And that's a plus because San Jose is a city worthy of a new opaque yet optimistic orator at its helm. Self Destruct's damaging, dynamic, tactile tempo treks comprise a truly towering topography for his partner in rhyme and the listener alike. When the sky matches the color of the EP's title I'm titillating myself with, I know I'm in a signified, definitive place. And that's what The Gray Area is: A Definitive Signifier from San Jose's canon cannon.