Sean Armstrong------Marble Cake Diaries

Sean Armstrong-Marble Cake Diaries--(2013)

Artist: Sean Armstrong   

Album: Marble Cake Diaries

Label: Independent           

Producers: !llmind, Khrysis, Da Beatminerz, Amp, MarcNfinit, others

It is hard to perform two or more functions and make it successful these days. Lately, becoming a producer/rapper has work wonders and it starting to work depending on talent. A few artists have converted from producer to rapper or have consistently done both. They worked from behind the MPC or ASR-10 to blessing the microphone and have worked to their advantage. Now the question remains has anyone started from the working behind the turntables to performing on the microphone?  Just ask DMV area artist Sean Armstrong who have worked as a deejay and is a member of Grammy award winner producer 9^th Wonder’s True School Corporation. Also known as DJ Face, Sean Armstrong has come a long way honing his craft in all angles categorizing into a triple threat sensation: deejay/producer/emcee. Now he is serving us with an 18 track album for our appetite Marble Cake Diaries.

            From the starting point, this album has some joints with a nice blended feel to it which makes it contemporary. The intro is great warm up track where Sean Armstrong spits well on the track. The single Took Control is where Sean Armstrong gets an assist from the Souls of Mischief’s legendary sharpshooter Tajai and the beautiful songstress Phoenix spitting over the !llmind production track. No Worries is awesome dance feel good music with a 90’s style to it produced by The Mowery Boys which fits right in Sean Armstrong where he spits the nice playful chorus on this one: we stylin on these youngings, ladies flock to it/Mowery Boys make yall rock to it. Like Rain increases the 90’s style intensity provided by Dischoe with the added scratches which is absent on many artists tracks while Long Time Coming let Sean Armstrong separate the difference between rap and hip hop on this thought provoking storytelling track.

            The middle of the project is where the swirl of diversity starts to match up perfectly. The boom bap beat by Amp meshes well with Sean Armstrong’s delivery on Stuck blending to the North Carolina southern feel of Khrysis providing Mr. Bullyfoot for Mister Armstrong to drop a fire sixteen. The soulful clapping sound influence Baby is a storytelling track on a female that brings another dope side to the diversity where Mister Armstrong spits the good chorus: I gotta let you know the deal/what we had wasn’t real/you would understand that you had a good man, a good man/I gotta let you know the deal/what we had it wasn’t real/I shoulda kept you in the friend’s zone/I shoulda kept you in the friend’s zone.

            Marble Cake Diaries is a great album which is a perfect dessert after the entrée. It has a diversity of sounds which matches Sean Armstrong’s lyrical cadence. This is a perfect example of everything has its own identity: every element has a different component that matters. The selection of beats is phenomenally picked. Sean Armstrong brings an element that works put out some of the boom bap elements, mixed with soulful beats and spitting sixteen whether it’s a storytelling vibe or making a track fit. This album is a great sound with none of the tracks sounding forgettable. The best way to describe the debut album from the DMV artist Sean Armstrong: an appetizing sound with a feel good sensation to the mind, taste buds and the stomach.

           Strong Tracks: “Took Control”, “No Worries”, “Like Rain”, “Long Time Coming”, “Stuck”, “Mr. Bullyfoot”, “Baby”, “Just Bars”, “Progression”

            Rating:out of  

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