Scene

My favourite jam on Dreamville's 'Revenge Of The Dreamers 2' was Lute's 'Still Slummin'. Some days I chucked it on repeat and just let the vibes pour through me as Lute delivered very mellow, yet hard hitting bars over the sort of production that would resonate with any hip hop fan. There was something in that song that forced me to dig deeper, I knew of J Cole, Bas, Cozz and Omen, I liked their work but it was Lute who really hit a nerve.

Who is Lute? Why had I heard of those other Dreamville artists and not this Lute guy? Those questions led me to 'West1996' which Lute released back in February 2012, some time ago. West1996 hammered home why J Cole had snapped up Lute, making him part of the Dreamville roster and my quest to find out more about Lute gifted me with constant head bobbin.

Vibe

Without sounding all hip hop hipster, Lute dishes up the sort of vibe that made many of us fall in love with hip hop. Lute raps over classic New York beats served up by some of the greats which makes the connection to the boom-bap style rather obvious, however what Lute delivers in terms of his content and style overshadows the menacing production.

Lute takes the listener to North Carolina, dropping constant references and slang that makes you feel like you're a local. That's what makes me get a tingle down my spine - not the production - as Lute spits gritty street tales sprinkled with wisdom and hope which is where I settle on the vibe I got from West1996. It's uplifting, sure it's very real and there's no fluff, nothing radio-friendly, however Lute packages all his stories and punch-lines with a sense of leadership, as if he's bringing the hood with him.

Music

The production is all about a golden hip hop sound and details are somewhat sketchy on who produced what. We do know there's some Pete Rock production on 80 Proof and Lute graces Outkast's 'Aquemini' for West Nine 6, I'm sure there'll be some hip hoppers out there that can spot the different production. What's important is that Lute combines a silky flow, introspective content, metaphors, word play and all that we love about quality rappers with some of the better production that you'll hear. It's a nice combo.

Lute brings some homies for the ride with Ry, SchylerChaise, 9Mil and Jimmy Kelso all featuring. The spit verses that compliment Lute's work and also offer their own little unique vibe

You can tell the real by how the real interact
Be surprised who inspired how a real nigga act
Man these little niggas lack
But who am I to say, that these little niggas wack?
We all reaching for the same
Children of the game switching lanes on them thangs Real2Real

It's good I got niggas starting to believe
You be surprised what we achieve
If we came together, split the fame and cheddar
Make it rain together
All we do is point the blame, niggas claim they better
Nigga fuck your chain, it's that name that get us
Meanwhile twisting fingers, yelling holler if you with us
Cause we ain't all killers or drug dealers
Just young niggas spitting on J Dillas, praise the RZA
Shit like that raised the nigga
Better than textbooks and the grades they give us
Now that the stage is bigger
Food for thought like Lays I give you
The story of a young nigga
I'm from the streets where niggas lust for shit they can't afford
Life on the fort, I have a nigga pushing for more Intro

"It's true girl, I never leave you lonely
Never thought it would be you girl if God himself had told me
Because I swear I pray for you girl way before you know me
Went through hell trying to find my one and only
Went through ex-girls, they best friends
They girls who did my homies" Letter2

Finale

I probably bumped West1996 over 100 times in two weeks, such was my affinity to Lute's work. I'm not really a fan of hip hop that simply regurgitates the work of others from back in the 90s, it's gotta have it's own twist or flavour and while Lute's music is rooted in New York's concrete streets and the album cover is an ode to Nas, Lute isn't from New York, nor does he sound like it.

There's a southern smoothness to Lute's rhymes, somewhat like a drool, a little bit of southern swag never hurt no one. I don't know about y'all but I like to listen to music that has some sort of meaning, or music from which I can grab my own bit of inspiration from and besides being refresh from a trip to North Cakalak via Lute, I found many gems of wisdom and/or motivation.

How to listen to it? Impress your mates, they won't know about Lute and as soon as you press play, you'll be the mantis for putting them on to Lute. I'd suggest that Lute is the biggest thing simmering in the underground right now.

You can buy Lute's West1996 off his Bandcamp, which is a good way to support artists ya know.