Review by: Kwan Lee
In the streets of New York, the name True Sun Ali definitely rings bells if you do music. From Brooklyn all the way up to The Bronx, you have heard his name and seen him perform across NYC. Hailing from East New York, Brooklyn, he has been doing his thing on the independent circuit for years. Known for having that feel good vibe of Hip-Hop, he has an old-school vibe with his music but not sounding outdated at all. His newest release "Therapy" is a great example of what he can and has offered previously on the mic.
From the first track "Therapy", you can relate to what he is talking about. It is something you can hear in your headphones or in your speakers out loud and relate to instantly. The track "Let It Shine" has a nice 2-step vibe to it, with that West Coast feel, but still keeping it New York. As we continue on into the project, one of the best songs on the mixtape "Loud", definitely has that early Roc-A-Fella / Jaz-O / mid 90's Brooklyn feel to it sounding soulful and funky as soon as it comes on. This is the mix of old school and new school that True Sun delivers, doing an excellent job of meshing the two schools.
The song "It's A Go" contains a New Jack City intro that eludes to the era of getting money, in which many people in his demographic actually lived through. On this track, True Sun brings Greezii Amin and Dimez Da Bully along for the ride. They all go off, spitting what we like to call Real Rap. That real New York gritty sound. The sound overall for the mixtape has a grown man hip-hop feel. People who grew up in the end of the Golden Age era can relate to and appreciate. True even talks about the "new-school" trends and tells you out of the gate it is not his style. Many people criticize artists for being stuck in a timeframe, but True Sun stays true, representing an era of people who feel the same way he does, and doing it like it is supposed to be done.
This mixtape is grown man hip-hop period. All of the tracks are solid, and my personal favorites are "Loud" along with "Guess Who". The mixtape closes out with something for the ladies titled "If You Don't Wanna Love Me". It is solid and honestly is a free album that should be purchased. It is a body of work you could tell was planned out and not just thrown together. For some people this is therapy. Something they could ride to work and bump in the car or in their headphones and nod their head to. In the clubs in NYC that cater to the 30 and over crowd, a few of these tracks will definitely be in heavy rotation. Like I said earlier, True Sun is known for his easy listening 2 step music everyone can groove to. He is a part of the emerging sub-scene in NYC of independent rappers that stay true to music the people that came up with them could relate to. And the fact that this music is getting supported, only means we will be seeing True Sun Ali in a bigger light soon. Don't be surprised if you see True Sun on a bill with the likes of Roc Marciano, Sean P, AG Da Coroner and Meyhem Lauren soon if it isn't in the works already.
