With a new home at HiPNOTT Records, it seems that New Jersey-based emcee Cymarshall Law is finally back with a new official release. Although it’s been about two years since he and Mr. Joeker dropped Hip Hop in the Soul, his latest EP, entitled Creators Kid, seems to pick up right where the 2008 LP left off. With production handled mainly by Sweden’s D-Slaps, Cy’s latest release starts off strong and shows that even though he hasn’t released an album in a couple of years, he still means business.
The first track, “Harder Than Thou” featuring DJ JS-1, is arguably the most impressive song on the seven track EP. Starting out strong, a prominent bass line accompanied by sharp snares with a very gritty feel provide a fitting backdrop for Cymarshall’s charged rhymes. He’s obviously passionate about what he’s saying, and bars such as “But I ain’t Carrie Underwood / Know me I’m from the hood, where our favorite phrase is ‘we wish a motherfucker would’ / Try to take what I worked so hard for / You gotta feel me if you ever been or are poor,” will speak directly to much of Cy’s audience. JS-1 comes in on the scratch hook bringing some classic lines from Queensbridge emcees such as Nas and Mobb Deep that emphasize the point that the track is trying to convey.
This continues into “Life is a Movie,” where Cymarshall Law flips movies into punchlines. His creative approach focuses on the titles of the movies rather than the content of the films, so it doesn’t alienate someone who might not be a movie buff from being able to appreciate the track. However, it does make one wonder how many movies Cy has watched in his life to be able to come up with an almost four-minute-long song of rhymes like “You’re the hitman, I’m an invisible target / But find out I’m the shooter and you become the departed / I’m writing like fighting with Tyson eleven rounds / You know you messed up like Will Smith in Seven Pounds.”
Unfortunately, after the first two tracks, Creators Kid, seems to lose its pace. Cymarshall Law is no Big Pun with the lyrics and at times his signature flow and unique voice can feel tedious. With only three features on the EP, two of which include JS-1’s scratch hook and a singer named Mary Lou who only added melodic vocal riffs on the last track and never sang actual words, the project could have benefited from one or two more features to switch things up a little bit. With that being said, there is still something positive to be taken away from the remaining tracks on the EP. “Ghosts of Hip Hop” is an ode to Hip Hop’s past that will be appreciated by true Hip Hop fiends and purveyors of the other elements besides emceeing. “Tangled Web” featuring Skit Slam deals with the topic of liars and the act of lying, which is something that many struggle with on a daily basis.
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For those that enjoy some substance in their rap with topics to make their brains work that their heart can relate to, Cymarshall’s Creators Kid EP is still a satisfactory release. At the very least it will keep his name fresh on people’s minds and serve as a solid start to the future of HiPNOTT Records. However, with less-than-stellar production and rhymes that don’t live up to Cy’s best from previous releases, it is likely that this EP will quickly be forgotten once Cymarshall Law releases a new project.
