On his major mixtape debut, Azad Right mixes ambition and introspection with assonance and deep rhyme schemes. On the opening track “When I Grow Up” he spits “Most of us don’t care about school / We don’t care about rules, still we very smart, clearly not fools / Section 8 was a scary spot too / So we snuck into the Marriott pool and got wild too,” over a blues guitar riff driven by deep booming bass.
On For the Hopeful Azad and executive producer Cazzafura showcase a marriage between lyricism and sound mixing from start to finish through an eclectic mix of pacing and instrumentation. The beats feature acoustic guitar, high hats, 808’s and R&B hooks among other effects which serve Azad by allowing him to get intimate on tracks suited for soul searching.
His strongest work is found on a mixture of love songs, nostalgia, open letters to long lost friends and stories of regret among other narratives showcased through complex rhymes like: “I’m a thoroughbred 90s baby / Chronic since the snot nose / While I’m with the homies, we was dodging’ all the potholes / Moms ain’t have the money to cop the Polos and the Jordans so my thirsty ass stole ‘em/Man I had to fuckin’ rock those” off of the penultimate “The Hunger For More.”
At times the themes of get repetitive, but the mixtapes strongest moments come when Azad manages to get personal and transparent like on “Hoop Dreams.” A complex beat that combines a grooving bassline with a voice echoing “Hey baby” as it builds to a hook with a driving synth a la “Let Me Ride.” After the second hook, a bridge with haunting piano and clapping, hands off to a grandiose victory lap of the tapes catchiest hook, “I still got hoop dreams!” The admission from Azad that basketball was not a likely path for his skill set while alluding to the 1994 documentary of the same name, if only in metaphorical terms, is an exercise in depth of lyrical content.
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Azad’s Hip Hop education, which spans across years and continents, is showcased with small homages to Jay-Z’s “Song Cry,” Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” and M.O.P.’s “Ante Up” among others throughout the 10 tracks.
At times the choice of content in Azad’s lyrics leaves any listener aware of his unique biography looking for more. While Azad successfully waxes about traditional hip-hop themes of fashion, inner city life and women, being an Iranian-American and rare middle eastern rapper is fodder for one of a kind storytelling that all too often goes unexplored in favor of traditional rap lyric content.
A quality often missing from mixtapes is a commitment to the whole entity as a united piece of art versus a collection of individual works. The precise and intentional order of the songs on For The Hopeful allows each effort to piggyback on the accomplishments of the prior track.
On an episode of Rapfix Live from March, Akon compared Azad Right to Nas saying, “I’m listening to your wordplay and lyrically you remind me of the old school, like Nas.” On For The Hopeful the young emcee shows flashes of poetic skill, rhythmic cadence and flow but he is not yet Nasty Nas and despite being exemplary at its high points, this is no illmatic.
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On “Full Circle” Azad trades verses with West Coast veteran Thurz. Towards the end of his verse he raps “My passion, hereditary, influenced by the legendary / All my verses soulful, for the hopeful is my cemetery / Sometimes I feel broken, cause I feel like it’s too late / Sometimes I lose focus but I never seem to lose faith.” With lyricism of that caliber the Santa Monica lyricist has tremendous potential as he continues to find his voice and explore his craft.
