Nels is originally from New York but has made Miami a second home.He has been working towards the release of this particular project for about two years. His music is influenced by a wide variety of artists and genres from greats such as Nas, Kanye West, Mos Def, and The Roots to something more than just hip-hop with latin and rock being some of his favorite kinds of music.
SO let’s get right into my review.
2. The Joey Maddlove Interview: After the FM channel changer we finally found our station. This song is like an introduction to Nels. At first we hear the radio host talking about a giveaway to go see Nels this weekend. Then a smooth beat comes in and we finally hear Nels who comes in like a breathe of fresh air. It is a short song but you truly get to see what kind of artist Nels is and get to learn a little bit about him if you listen closely.
3. Do You: Her we have another smooth beat with a positive message. “You’re gonna shine if you want to.” He talks about how he wishes his family could see how far he’s come. Regardless of what struggles you’re going through you can make it through as long as you do you. I love the message in this song and feel like you become connected to Nels struggles through this song.
4. The Letter: This is a story about writing letters to his fam in jail. Nels updates him on everything happening on the outside. Each verse is a new letter, which brings about more updates. This is an unfortunately true story for so many people out there.
5. Not Gonna Change: In this song he uses some notable hip-hop references. The chorus throws me off a bit. I understand what he’s going for with the chorus but I am not sure it was properly executed, but I’ll let you be the judge.
6. Mic Check, Don’t Stop: This song makes me think of going to a block party and wildin out. My favorite line from the song is, “A party ain’t a party if you ain’t got hip hop music.”
7. D.R.E.A.M: Now we come to the final song off the EP. For the first verse I was wondering what D.R.E.A.M stands for and in the chorus I finally got my answer. Can you guess what it means??
Overall, you can see how much creativity went into the project.
Don’t believe me take a listen for yourself:
Melly Starz 