Freespottie’s strong production combines well with verses from himself and Chebba on the duo’s first collaboration.
The main strength of Customer Service Vol. 1, rappers freespottie and Cheba’s first collaboration, is the emotion behind both the music and the lyricism. The tone is light and bouncy, helped along at times by the slightly unrefined sound. This is best captured on the opening track “MLK Boulevard,” which establishes the more gentle approach that the duo has. The production, all by freespottie, is consistently beautiful and involves a refreshing range of sound. Where “MLK Boulevard” relies on its choppy drumbeat for melody, later tracks are more reliant upon sampled piano loops. See “Morning Wood” for example, which focuses on a drum and piano loop with some maracas buried a little deeper in the mix. The drums are certainly the main focus instrumentally, and they create distinctive, punchy sounds.
The longer tracks also see the strengths of the project shine. For an album based so much on its tone, the two six-minute tracks allow that tone to linger and grow on the listener. On top of “MLK Boulevard,” “Vibe Change” has a catchy hook which discusses people changing and stating clearly that “steady hating is the safest way to die,” suggesting that people lose focus on their own life when bringing down what others are doing. It’s a well expressed sentiment, delivered with a concise cool.
The tone of the record is relaxed, but still punchy. The smooth flows of both rappers and their singing creates a contrast with the mildly aggressive drum-beats, as on “Blow Your Mind”. That track sees more confidence and classic rap braggadocio as the two go back and forth discussing how they ‘hypnotize’ others with their talents. There are some very fun lines here, contrasting the moodier focal point of “Vibe Change”, such as ‘Febreze spray, ‘cause the way I bring the funk a n***a stink.’ Freespottie’s flow during this verse is one of the best on the album, and the cadence of his vocals reflects the relaxed tone of the beat. Freespottie’s ability as a producer to create those feeling of relaxation and calm through his beats consistently is impressive.
Customer Service Vol. 1 is a brief but strong collection of tracks from freespottie and Chebba, highlighting more of the seemingly infinite wealth of talent in underground hip-hop currently. There’s a lot of potential seen in this record as both artists clearly have talent in their lyricism, flow and delivery.
