Have you ever found yourself in a contemplative mood, yearning for some music you can vibe to in order to have a backdrop for your thoughts? You go grab an album to put on, start relaxing, but then realize that your musical catalogue isn’t very conducive to getting you into states of deep thought. With P. Casso‘s debut album, For Your Consideration, that won’t be a problem any longer.
Filled with mellow, Jazz and Classical-influenced instrumentals that rely heavily on a backdrop of soothing piano riffs for melodic lines, For Your Consideration is a laid back compilation of songs you can chill out to. However, be ready to do some thinking when you hear the album, as P. Casso makes it a point to touch on some serious subjects. The title track alone references such subjects as Nelson Mandela and apartheid, Sean Bell, and “rush[ing] the government for every cent they owe to us.” Despite the subject matter, the track is refreshing and sends a rush of lively energy through your ears. This same sort of approach is utilized again in “Do You Wanna Come Home”, a track sending out the question to people such as soldiers in Iraq. Leaving out a catchy chorus for some classic cuts and scratches, the title of the track says it all.
Other high points of the album include the serious “I Gotta be Me” featuring Education, which blends the story of Casso‘s past, family dynamics, and the details of a young girl’s struggles to grow up over a mellow, piano-laced instrumental. P. Casso‘s love for music is apparent in this track, where he explains how his father supported his education far more than his music career, and Casso made the decision to follow his passion and put the music first. A less somber-sounding strong point of the album comes in the form of a bonus track entitled “Exclusive” – with a fairly simple drum line giving classical music a street sound, the beat lays the perfect backdrop for bars of braggadocio.
Weaknesses are found in tracks such as “SIMSIMSALLABIM!”, where an instrumental that sounds somewhat like Clipse‘s “Grinding” mixed with some hyphy seems out of place in the context of the album. “Mr. Hollywood,” for which P. Casso filmed a video, gets bogged down by a tiring hook. “One of These Nights” and “What You Gonna Do” (featuring Rhyson Hal) suffer from a lack of that certain something that will cause you to remember the song a few days later. Rhyson Hal said it best on “What You Gonna Do” when he said, “bring the beat back and relax as we vibe.” For Your Consideration is the perfect album to play on those days when you don’t want to hear harsh noise, but don’t quite want to be left in silence either.
