October 7, 2009

Ali'Yah: D. Black's Stairway to Heaven

Posted by Zoneil Maharaj at 12:00AM

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The Seattle hip-hop pot has been bubbling for years, and it's finally starting to spill over. The recent success of artists like Blue Scholars and super producer Jake One (G-Unit, MF Doom, De La Soul) have parted the clouds hovering above the region, giving some shine to the Northwest's talent.

Next to fly the flag for the Emerald City is Damian Black, a young emcee with a gifted tongue and spiritual state of mind. The 22-year-old's sophomore release, Ali'Yah, which dropped last month via Bay Area-based MYX Music Label and D. Black's co-owned Sportn' Life Records, is an uplifting, motivational album full of positive vibes and soulful R&B hooks.

Like many outside of the Northwest, I first heard Black on Jake One's star-studded White Van Music, which featured hip-hop heavyweights such as Busta Rhymes, M.O.P., MF DOOM, Freeway and more. Black stood apart with his street gospel on "God Like," displaying precise, potent lyrics and hard-edged spirituality.

D. Black's 2006 debut, The Cause and Effect, is said to be a more club and street-oriented album, which is hard to imagine considering the positive outlook of Ali'Yah and the man he is today: a father, husband, label president and preacher who runs his own Messianic Judaism ministry.

Songs like "Yesterday" (right-click to download) and "Keep On Going" (right-click to download) are hopeful, optimistic tracks spit with sincerity. Shedding his skin on "Yesterday," he raps: "Can you picture me losing? Never Black. A life being useless? Never that. So I gotta ask, how can you ever see what's in front of you, if you're always looking back?"

Ali'Yah shows Black's spiritual and mental growth. It's focused on substance and meaning, rather than capitalism and materialism. At 22, most rappers would be concerned with individual success but Black is more concerned with people overcoming challenges together. "Sugar" tells the tales of lost and misguided children while "Blow the Trumps" sees him tackle global affairs with audio clips from various news reports.

Both streetwise and spiritual without being too preachy, D. Black is a rarity in the game. And with the genre in retrograde looking back to the '80s to create dance hits, it's refreshing to get a shot of hip-hop straight-up, no chaser. The album features signature Jake One bangers and production from his mentor, Seattle veteran Vitamin D, along with B. Brown, GMK and D. Black himself. Together, they help to create a cohesive, warm and soulful vibe throughout, with Black sticking to his mission.

While D. Black doesn't drop a long list of quotables, he drops wisdom in heavy doses. He's found comfort in his own skin, which is more than most emcees can say. And with Ali'Yah, which is Hebrew for "to ascend," D. Black establishes himself as one of the brave new voices coming out of the Northwest.