Lone Wolf
Sum and Belief are The Lone Wolf
Worker B
North Carolina rapper Sum and West Coast-raised, New York-based producer Belief reinvigorate jaded listeners’ faith that hip-hop can be meaningful. The Lone Wolf is nice, characterized by Belief’s mellow beats suffused with jazz samples and Sum’s smooth storytelling. However, both poetry and jazz can be beautiful yet boring. Belief’s production perfectly complements Sum’s competent, but ultimately forgettable delivery. He has a smooth voice and flexes a few different cadences, but hardly varies his tone. Plus, the album doesn’t have a clear hit. A near miss is “35 Cents,†built on guitar loops and a sleepy, mildly spiced hook. “Kakalak All-Stars†also gets close, invigorating with dope hip-hop historical details, but it’s brief and lacks a chorus. If The Lone Wolf duo is to find commercial success, the choruses must be shined up and the beats need more pop.
Bill Kelvin
Glad you covered this album…been a BIG fan of Sum for a while. Following his prolific catalogue, you can see how he takes on a certain “voice” or persona for each project…from The Nobody Hole to The Lone Wolf. Dude might sound unchanging on this project, but it’s with purpose….he’s weaving tales on this project. You might wanna check that full-length version of “Kakalak All-Stars” they just released too….think you can grab it from their myspace page. Good write up!