A Captured Moment in Time
| 2008 |
A Captured Moment in Time
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Urbnet |
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Rifler
 good
[Rating21757858]
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A very underrated rapper DL Incognito has been under the radar since he released his first album. Now he is back with A Captured Moment in Time. When you first listen to it, you have to notice his lyrical ability. He is very talented and is in his prime. He's not really political or gangsta, but he's just a regular guy rapping about regular stuff. The one thing that really sticks out to me is his emotion. He puts everything he's got into his songs and it shows. The production isn't the best but it isn't terrible. It's really what a typical underground rapper would put out. He is very consistent throughout the album, and there isn't a song where you would be like "OMG why would you put that on an album?!". Another thing you will notice is that it kind of sounds the same with the beats and the way he delivers. I guess it's alright, since it's good, but I would like to see some variation in the future. If he can just change things up and get better beats, he would have a one of a kind album. |
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darockwilder12
 Skunk
Digital
[Rating20018034]
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A somewhat generous rating but he's definitely got good stuff as shown in "Claim to Fame". 3.18?-- thats way to low for this album. |
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Nodima
 Good; recommended for fans.
Digital
[Rating19817655]
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A Captured Moment in Time (Produced by Techtwelve unless noted) [Urbnet Records 2008]
1|Claim to Fame|3:59 3.75 - 4
2|Grand Scale |4:13 3 - 3.5
3|Too Late Now|3:41 4.75 - 5
4|Made It Through|2:54 3.5 - 4
Has a similarity to Jay-Z's "I Made It". Check it.
5|Rap Soul|3:26 (Produced by T-Wrecks) 3 - 3.75
6|Fresh to Death|4:08 (Produced by DL Incognito) 3 - 3.75
7|Owe It All to You|4:18 3 - 3.25
8|Atmosphere (feat. Theology 3)|3:34 (Produced by Kelakovski) 2.75 - 3
9|Best Years (I Care)|3:36 (Produced by T-Wrecks) 3.25 - 4
10|Air Play|3:53 (Produced by DL Incognito & Techtwelve) 3 - 3.25
11|Thank You (For Listening)|3:21 (Produced by T-Wrecks) 4 - 4.5
12|These Are My Adventures|4:08 4 - 4.5
Overall: 43 - 43.5 3.60/5 72 - 73%: Impressive; well above average; TRY IT
Incognito is a charismatic MC, but also a thoughtful one. When he uses cheese as slang for money earned off mainstream-style rap music, he includes "swiss", adding a layer to his language you can take or leave. He and his producers seem concerned with making sure their tracks cohere, which is actually sort of hard to come by with everyman rappers. Incognito glues himself to the beat and writes out a bunch of variations on one or two character profiles. It doesn't get old, though, because the album's kept pretty short and the tracks themselves aren't very long either. Sure it's easy to overrate a modest tracklisting in the hip-hop world, but it really is something worthy of props in a musical community that generally has no problem saturating the market.
But I suppose here's the thing and it's hypocritical of me to say so: his tracks often have a sort of self-deprecating, "if I could I would" attitude that mirrors my own but isn't exactly admirable either. The guy raps about his struggles which many times sound self-inflicted - not that I really have room to criticize. Like he says on "Too Late Now", he's got a career that makes him smile and who is anyone to get in the way of that. I can really relate to Incognito's raps to be honest. He's not the most outstanding rapper and I think this honest guy lane is filled better by guys like Blu, but as far as the B-list goes DL is a hell of a rapper in his own right. It might take a few listens - and this album is an easy one to set aside after one or two spins - but A Captured Moment in Time really opens itself up over repeated listens and is quite a dope album. Fans of Skyzoo's Salvation would really enjoy a lot of the feel of this album, and others might argue this is what Wale's debut album should have sounded similar to. DL's honesty is what ultimately puts this album over from average underground LP to worthwhile listen.
Like Rayzhel said, as the album goes on you can feel Incognito feeling for the beat a little, but the guy is in his prime so take his highlights and the lowlights will just kind of blend in. Actually, with more listens this album has grown on me a fair amount, mostly because I really relate to Incognito's lyrics. In fact, he's really got me nailed right now to be honest, since my school situation is kind of slipping and I'm just not sure where I'm going. This album has been nice to rediscover later in the year and sink into a little bit more. There's nothing revolutionary here but this is an album that I personally enjoy, and I'd recommend this to people that are looking for a new everyman album to add to the collection. |
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elgringocolombiano
 decent
[Rating16967347]
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DL Incognito 2008 A Captured Moment In Time
BEATS 2.5
GOOD 2/12
Atmosphere
Made It Through
DI is a rapper/producer born in Ottawa, ON, & based in Toronto. This is DI’s 4th solo studio album, & 1st that I’ve reviewed.
VOCALS DL is a decent rapper, with good emotion, & a decent voice somewhat similar to Funky DL.
I recommend skipping this, & instead listening to Funky DL 2007 The 4th Quarter. |
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johnsoncody76
Digital
[Rating15098845]
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Lyrics - 3.5
Beats - 3.5
Favorite Tracks:
"Air Play"
"Rap Soul"
"Atmosphere"
"Too Late Now"
"Fresh to Death"
"Claim to Fame" |
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david_de_israeli
[Rating15074989]
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Yep, (: it actually do desorve the un-famous status, boring stuff, eccept song 2 (Grand Scale) who offers cool production, nothing more.
a very old fasioned ,un inspired, un-surprisng & boring hiphop album.
canadians sure has a lot more to pruff (show me the money! ) in music, even the brilliant arcade fire is actually not canadian, the main creator is win butler, an american. |
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Rayhzel
Dope
[Rating14973905]
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Candian rapper DL Icognito takes a moment of our time with his 4th album. He is one of those common man rappers. His topics are rather simple, but he does it pretty good lyrically. From women to hiphop music, he doesn't go with any spectacular topics, but he is really in his comfort zone. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of his flow though, there are some moments he really seems to struggle to keep it going. However, most of the time it's good though. Not that he is going to blow you away, but he gets the job done. He does struggle a bit to keep your full attention for the album, as I found that his voice seems to miss that extra punch.
What does pack some punch is the production on this album. Apart from a few joints, it's really entertaining. Nothing that hasn't been done before, but it's executed very good. It has that great feeling for a hot spring or summer day and sounds fresh the entire time. Ironically it's 'Fresh To Death' that doesn't sound that fresh. Also 'Owe It All To You' could have been better. It's not that these tracks are broken, but production-wise they just don't hold up to the rest of the album.
Though DL isn't perfect on the mic, he is pretty good, especially with that fresh production backing him up. This album isn't going to break any boundaries or blow you away, but it's a very enjoyable spin from front to back. With the hockey season almost over it's time for Canada to take notice of this summer album. |
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diction
Dope
Digital
[Rating14944174]
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Lyrics: 4.0
Beats: 3.5
DL Incognito has been holding down for the canadian hip hop scene for nearly the entire decade and here he brings us his 4th LP "A Caputred Moment in Time". To me one of DL's main strengths is how he is down to earth and he sounds like he could be one of my homeboys. The stuff he spits about is "normal guy hip hop", he's not a gangster nor does he get political, he's just about everyday life type of shit. I guess one could critize this album for being too regular, it's not really original as it follows all the hip hop basics. The production is pretty standard "underground hip hop" and DL spits in a very traditional way like a Nas would do. What makes it all good is the emotion/soul factor, it's quite clear that DL put his heart in all of these tracks and it's very easy to get drawn into the songs with such passion. The beats are not mindblowing but they are dope, they give DL enough space to go off and do his thing. It's a very consistant LP at 45 minutes with only 12 songs, there isn't a wasted moment and the album just flows so well. Actually I'm quite surprised at how good this is and how DL managed to still grow as an artist even on his 4th album, the typical rapper usually falls off on the 3rd album cause he's running out of things to say and/or goes with the safe commercial route but DL Incognito avoided both of these traps. The timing of the album is perfect, the vibe goes very well with the recent hot weather and I would definitely recommend this one to all my canadian hip hop heads! |
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jshopa
Rope
CD
[Rating14890022]
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The Canadian hip-hop scene has come a long way. I remember when it first started getting some hype when Maestro Fresh Wes hit the Toronto scene. I had Black Tie Affair on cassette, it was my starting point for rap music in the year that most people were digging Hammer and Ice and late night Arsenio Hall. Then we had Tom Green's rap group Organized Rhyme winning Junos and Dream Warriors made heavy rotation on MuchMusic. Then it all just sort of went away and went underground. Canadian rap became a regional thing - the Maritime hip-hop of Classified (who I've met and is a really nice dude and puts on a fun live show, although I don't much dig his albums), or Torontonian hip-hop by our own superstar K-os, lunatic comedy shit by Chilly Gonzales (and his electro soulmate Peaches), cross-Canada hip-hop legends-to-be like Buck 65, and local scene heroes like Swollen Members (Mad Child used to hang out flexing and showing off his muscles at my buddy's video store). We've come a long way.
DL Incognito is part of the burgeoning new Ontario scene which is pretty much an extension of what Maestro was putting down fifteen years ago, with an old school vibe to it, funk/soul/jazz samples, positive vibes and classical flow. Lots of crackling brass strikes and funky breaks, plus sampling The Guess Who's classic national hit "Sour Suite" on "Too Late Now" which is a very reflexively Canadian moment. A Captured Moment in Time is a pretty good album. It comes on strong with an engaging opening few tracks, and while it falls off a bit in the midsection, it regains balance with the storming "Air Play" and rolls out on a high, with a sincere thank you to all supporters and a look back on the past decade of growth. Nothing new but positive and resolutely Canadian, which is refreshing. |
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StalkingButler
B :: Just Good
Digital
[Rating14843450]
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Production: B- (2.4/4)
Lyricism: B+ (3.1/4)
Flow: A- (1.7/2)
Overall: B (7.2/10)
Middle of the album became a bit of a snooze fest with mediocre (average) songs. The album seemed to coast a bit without falling off by overusing the same formulas. First four tracks, "Air Play", and "These Are My Adventures" are quality. Album flies by and ends before you know it. The main attraction is DL's ability to flow steadily song in and song out. Recommended for 2008 but not necessary. |
distribution | 1.5 | | 1 | | 2.0 | | 2 | | 2.5 | | 3 | | 3.0 | | 5 | | 3.5 | | 15 | | 4.0 | | 4 |
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rym
