Termanology & DC - Out The Gate
(St. Records/Showoff)
Grade: B
“Out the Gate” is the unofficial debut street LP from the Puerto Rican Massachusetts native, Termanology. Busy on the mix tape circuit, Term has released four mixtapes in the last 18 months, including three volumes of the Hood Politics series. Most recently, Term has been featured in The Source’s “Unsigned Hype” column, and garnered much attention on both the CMJ and Rapattack charts. Term has an impressive resume of artists that he has collaborated with, but this is his first time in the lead role. With production from partner DC, “Out the Gate” marks a good start to a promising future. The album begins strongly with an energetic intro from Statik Selektah and the catchy This is Hip Hop, where Term gives props to the old school emcees before him. Other highlights include the title track Out The Gate featuring ST Da Squad and Ready with Esoteric and Gutta. Krumbsnatcha, Prospect and Akrobatik also deliver notable and effective guest verses. The album showcases many different sides to Termanology’s persona. For example, his nostalgic side shines on When We Were Kids, an entertaining flashback to his childhood (think “Back In The Day” 2006). His angry side comes out on Takin’You With Me and Never Be The Same (his ode to broken friendships). His sentimental family side is displayed on Circle of Life (the familiar fatherhood track) and Mommy, Daddy, Grandma. Both of these songs might be overly sensitive to the average hip hop head, but then again, people are feelin’ Kanye’s “Hey Mama” and “Roses.” So as promising as this album is, there are naturally some pitfalls. For one, 19 tracks is about 7 too many for this joint. The obligatory shout out track could be thrown out, along with R&B cut Baby, and a few other weaker collabos here and there. If the album were a mere 12 songs deep, we might be talking about heavy rotation. All in all, a nice effort for this unsigned talent and a name we may get to know a lot better in the future.
