Album Notes

The seventh album from producer Geoff Wilkinson’s hip-hop-jazz crew Us3 sees the introduction of 2 new young MCs hot off the streets of New York. Underground hip-hop fans will already know the name of 23 year-old Sene, and spoken word aficionados will certainly be aware of 20 year-old Brook Yung. “These are the youngest vocalists I’ve featured since the guys on “Hand on the Torch” says Geoff, “and it’s definitely given the album more of a hip-hop bite”.

From the gritty opener Gotta Get Out Of Here to the bossa nova club track She’s With Me, the album touches on tales of urban paranoia and desperation, to the pursuit of true romance. Although Us3 are known for having a diverse range of influences, the most surprising tracks are those that feature a more stripped down production approach. You Already Know is completely made of vocal samples, and Turn It Up utilizes only drums and synthesized bleeps (jazz crunk?).

The hard electronics of The Future Ain’t What It Once Was & moody piano-led Got To Make A Livin’ resonate with the current economic crisis, and Brook Yung’s gorgeous tale of attraction in The Love Of My Life is perfectly complimented by the lush piano & shuffling drums. A strong latin influence is prevalent in both the vibes led party track Can I Get It?, and the seductive sleazy horns of I Let ‘Em Know, while the unusual time signature of Who Got Next? has Sene effortlessly wrapping his twisting lyrical wordplay around a funky 4/4/3/4 groove.

Collaborators from the jazz side include the familiar notable faces of Ed Jones (sax), Bryan Corbett (trumpet), Chris Storr (trumpet), and John Crawford (piano), while top turntablist DJ First Rate scratches up a storm. Everyone will relate to something here.


Reviews:-

“It's music that pulls you into a jazzy, soulful, cool mood, pulling you through all of the ups and downs of Yung and Sene while constantly invigorating and refreshing you. This is music for the blue note in us all.”
www.rapreviews.com

Wilkinson laces the album with a plethora of organic instrumental sounds which impart an overt jazzy quality to nearly every track. An entire review could be dedicated solely to the instrumental aspect of this album, but for the sake of time let’s just leave it at this: stop. think. run. is organic jazz hip hop at its finest; point blank; period.
www.vinylmeltdown.com

Each track (all produced by Wilkinson himself) is crafted so uniquely that though they can bear resemblances, no two sound alike. Altogether, stop. think. run. is an ensemble which draws upon some of the finest instrumentation heard in Hip Hop recently – if not ever – along with rhymes suited to all occasions whether it’s thought-provocation, celebrating or simply mellowing out.
www.planeturban.com.au

At the end of the day, it’s just about good music, and that’s what you get with Us3.
www.hipsterwave.com