Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email [email protected].
Eskabel Pep Talk (Black Shark, 2010)
Eskabel, the Missouri City spitfire MC who's just as likely to pick a guitar riff to rap over as he is an 808, is in no uncertain terms one of the most interesting students on the New Houston roster sheet. He's brazen and aggressive and witty, and occasionally wears winter gloves and a beanie with a muscle shirt while holding a baseball bat*. Pep Talk is his third mixtape.
*Holding a bat automatically makes any outfit cool, regardless of nonsensical it would appear otherwise.
Y'allmustaforgotability: 97 percent
Read what Y'allmustaforgotability means.
Best Song on the Album: A lot of guys have taken a swing at Trae's "Inkredible," but Eska, with the help of hood politician Delo, does well to understand the trajectory of the production. Eska had some practice with beat jackin' on the aptly named mixtape, Jackin' 4 Beats, wherein he went in on 14 or so immediately recognizable beats. He's proven himself remarkably adept at it. He rates second on the List of Houston Guys You're Hoping Go In On Lil' Wayne's "6'7'" beat, finishing behind Killa Kyleon and ahead of Trae, hasHBrown and Bun.
Most Unexpected Sample on the Album: Eska samples a lot of stuff on this tape, bouncing all the way from Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to Player's "Baby Come Back." And though enjoyable - if you rap over anything Player did, people will automatically like it; that is a fact - this sort of helter-skelter approach to classic-rock sampling isn't exactly new.
Sampling Evanscence's "Going Under," as he does on "Livin' for the Moment," though, is a pretty sly move. Perhaps what's most interesting about the whole situation is that it does not immediately make you want someone to put a bullet in your skull.
