3 out of 5

Label: Rhymesayers

Produced by: Chords, Grieves

With an array of sharp imagery, complex, chopped up beats, and a good assortment of confessionals and rave-ups, Grieves’ Running Wild is a definitely promising album, if rather evidence of the artist’s overreach when mimicking his major influence, Atmosphere, a bit too closely.  Five discs (and several EPs) into his career, though, perhaps we should have moved beyond promise.

Running Wild is fairly apropos: the disc’s 15 tracks feature several concerning starry-eyed travel – opener’s tour fantasy Postcard; the tragic relationship of Bonnie and Clyde – and, in general, Grieves paints a picture of himself as occasionally carefree (What It Dew), occasionally obsessive (Guts), always scramblin’ (Night Shift)… and so not unlike every other hip-hop artist out there.

Which is my main takeaway from the album: for every moment during which Grieves and co-producer Chords cut deep – the electro-touched beats of Faded are a good indication of the potential of production nuance; the straightforward how-it-is of Night Shift is a sobering counter to some more overwrought tellings of the same life experiences found on countless hip-hop records – there are just as many that come up short and uninspired.  In going for Atmosphere-esque brash honesty on Guts, for example, Grieves just offers up one of the worst and most shallow sets of call-and-response type lyrics I’ve recently heard; RX’s beat and vocal treatment might as well be a major label bid.  Opener Postcard strikes a good balance between personality and boast, but Grieves’ playfulness elsewhere feels rather hollow, like a smart guy searching to gruff up his image with a mouthful of lazy swearing.

The good definitely outweighs the average, especially as repeated listens bring out more of the subtleties in lyrics and sound, but it would seem that Grieves needs to latch onto a persona that he fully owns, instead of bouncing off ideas from some of his Rhymesayers contemporaries.