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Dwarf Nebula: I Feel Big As A Damn Mountain [2012]

I Feel As Big as a Damn Mountain is the first release from quirky rapper, Dwarf Nebula. Dwarf Nebula is an odd character created by the man behind the beats; I’ll refrain from delving into the story, but I urge you to look into it yourself.

From the moment that Dwarf Nebula was played, the only thing that I could think of was Kafka. Dwarf Nebula delivers his verses through layers upon layers of voice manipulation; however, his verses are composed of tongue-in-cheek confessions that reveal parts of the human mind. To some, his delivery style might be too absurd. Upon second listen, though, you can hear that his flow is derived from a long tradition of hip hop. His delivery draws heavily from Flava Flav and his lines often quote from golden era tracks. In my opinion, Dwarf Nebula approached hip hop correctly: he studied the past masters and found his niche.

If the rhymes don’t quite suit you, the beats will be sure to do so. Doc Hella (the album’s fictional producer) crafted each beat with scrutiny that is almost tangible. Each track is saturated with handfuls of samples; layers upon layers create a dense web of basslines, beats, and hooks that showed that substantial work was invested in the album. I applaud Doc Hella’s effort towards this album. With this in mind, he must remember that future work with dense beats might end up hurting the aesthetic. Nevertheless, each beat is a tasty donut of hip hop.

It’s important to know what Dwarf Nebula is doing on this album: he’s embracing J Dilla’s idea of Donuts. Each beat exists for just long enough to get in your head. After which, it fades away and into the next track. This effort by Dwarf Nebula lands him in media res for the competition for the best contemporary, underground hip hop producer. The drawback? It makes his album feel a little too cluttered.

Overall, this album is a great debut album from Dwarf Nebula. The flow and the beats are both seeped in the tradition of hip hop. I Feel Like a Damn Mountain is cerebral, humorous, and quirky. The only problem is that it might be a little too quirky for some ears.

8/10

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Tags : Dwarf Nebula
BC

The author BC

Born in Singapore and raised in Minnesota. I'm an aspiring jazz / hip-hop musician who loves to do anything related to music. If I'm not composing or listening to jazz / hip-hop, you'll probably find me at a concert. My rule is simple: be willing to change your mind as it is the only way of remembering you still have one.