Jaba - Trapped (EP) - OUT NOW! (FREE)

[TheVipBro]

By the parents crazy, i literally mean he says "my parents are crazed" on track 1, idk what u guys thought i ment

[DetroitSkills]

Jaba has his first hater, yay.

I'm proud of him.

they blow up so fast

[CanadaPure]

VipBro is asking the real questions.

[Snakebeast]

Snake finna listen to this classik right now. Will give thoughts later.

[CanadaPure]

Let me offer some honest feedback though, since I did listen to the album the whole way through:

The production was pretty okay, but a bit repetitive sometimes. Overall it wasn't particularly an issue, but it wouldn't be the type of production I'd personally choose. That being said, it was good.

The rapping itself though is really rough. Delivery is choppy and you sound like you're holding back your voice a lot, like half whispering. The writing needs work. And the content felt like maybe you were just imitating what you hear rappers say. I'm not sure about that 100%, but some of it sure felt like that.

The features were whatever. I didn't care for Eedee or DGAF's verses. Both were whatever content wise, I didn't particularly like Eedees delivery, and DGAF sounded kind of forced/uncomfortable.

Demaz was actually pretty funny, but like a lot of his verses he sounded too quiet on the beat.

Overall, really rough. But keep working on improving.

Edit: I really like Demaz's beat for Fucked Over though. Really nice.

[MistaVijilantee]

7 pages good lord

Demaz sound effects are GOAT.

[Excita]

awesome

edit: Nights Out beat is GOAT, intro was hella cool though

[Jaba]

:worship: awesome

edit: Nights Out beat is GOAT, intro was hella cool though

Thanks.

Thanks True Wiz also.

___________________________

This has been a funny thread. But can we actually get somewhat serious like some people are? I'd like some real feedback.

(someone should do a track by track review *cough cough* )

[yung rom]

no worries, I'm on it

[Jaba]

no worries, I'm on it

[yung rom]

This is by far the single greatest project my eardrum's have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I'll go track by track because each one deserves as much compliments as I can fit into this one reply.

01. Intro/Trapped - Brass is beautiful. Your mic is a lot higher quality than I've ever heard before. I'm digging the complex rhyme schemes too. Can't understand why no one else in here seems to be aware of your dragged out multis, we should get ronnie in this thread, he'd understand. Your voice is a wonderful blend of the modern teen and MMLP influence, I totally dig. The devil voice is something really original I liked, never heard it executed like that before. I especially like the line "Please find out where I live and fucking arrest me." Really shows your complex wall of emotions, wanting so much to be freed from the life you're "trapped" in that you would risk going to jail for the rest of it. So, you basically say you're even more trapped in your mind than you could be if you were literally trapped. That's mad deep man, and the concept is a lot better than these other cats in the audio section. You could probably teach them a thing or two. I'm gonna keep showing the creative and beautiful concepts you exhibit throughout the concept EP because I feel like maybe not everyone will appreciate/understand it. Anyway, great track. Not gonna do a rating thing on this because I feel like scoring 10/10 on each on wouldn't be enough.

02. Alone - Heard this song already, but within the EP, it is totally enhanced, and thus deserves as much a review as the rest of the tracks. Your singing is actually on some mainstream level shit (in a good way), and if you're really untuned like everyone seems to think, you are certainly impressive. I would say to consider a singing career, although it might be hard for you to get your complex, awesome concepts across without the amount of lyrics rap can supply. Moving on, instrumental really compliments your voice. I like how with this track, you introduce the next idea of not only be trapped, but separated from the people you love. Now, being trapped, you see the life you used to live, and miss it, even though you never appreciated it back then (something illustrated in "I Hate You," which clearly is only there to show how you used to feel before being so trapped). You go so far as to say you feel like you're "At the top of the world," something most people wouldn't think if they were alone, but it shows your impressive understanding of the human condition. This is a personal favorite for me. Rhyming is also on some next level tech n9ne ish, I dig

03. Hope - Now, I'll be completely honest: I originally dismissed "Hope" just because the garageband loops left me presuming it would be garbage. However, after listening to it all the way through, without being judgmental, I see the true genius of the song. The line "I wonder, do I stand out?" really made an impression on me. In this track, you start by questioning whether or not anyone will remember you when you're gone. You go on to say how you rap and such, yet don't do it for the recognition. I like how you put this, considering you make it seem at the beginning that you're afraid of being forgotten. But at this point in the song, you reveal that you don't care if you're forgotten, you're simply doing it for the art and for the need to express yourself, something that would be hard for someone so "trapped." You then say, "I'm just a kid in the city; leave me alone," showing how you believe your situation is so different from everyone else's that it's not like anyone would understand you anyway. This shows that the fact you make songs is simply for you, making you completely different from people like Lil Wayne who would be working at McDonalds if Tupac was still alive. In the chorus, you sing about succeeding, but really, you just mean succeeding at expressing yourself, and not caring what anyone else thinks. While the thoughts and criticisms have led to you being stuck in this funk and being "trapped," perhaps the way out is figuring out that the thoughts and ideas of other people don't matter if you're able to truly understand yourself. Perhaps there's still "hope."

04. Inspiration - Clearly a mirror track to "Hope," but this one is made to show your mind state before you got trapped and drew such conclusions about yourself from this. The combination of the professional sounding instrumental and professional recording make something that I could see myself listening to on the radio. You should make this into a music video man, it has boundless potential. Flow is godly. I like how you're talking about how you're too scared to talk to the girl you like, poetically describing yourself at the time as a "fucking wet pussy." I would assume the person you're talking about in this track is the same as the one discussed in "Alone," when you talk about the people you love. You say how you would've pursued this person, but you lacked any inspiration, due to all the criticisms put in your way. Now, it's too late to tell them how much you care because you're so deeply trapped in your mind. Singing at the end (bridge included) literally brought a tear to my eye. Never have I heard such an exhibit of emotion on TRShady, let alone on the hip hop scene since the subliminal-message-filled birthday song by 2Chainz was released.

05. I Hate You - Instrumental was okay, but not exactly up to par with the other fantastic beats featured on this album like the realistic pianos of "Alone," the even-better-than-the-original-instrumental of "Drug Ballad," and of course, the best instrumental I've heard on here since 2012, "Hope." Still, I thought this was gonna be a minus on the album, but you, as usual with this EP, proved me wrong. Song is an amazing step into the adolescent mind as he accuses all the people who criticize him around him and counters with clever, grade-A comebacks like "fucking faggots," "you look like strippers," "scum... you understand that?" "stupid shitty goths, why can't you just kill yourselves" and "suck on a cum." While I thought "Inspiration" was gonna have the biggest exhibit of emotion on this album, this chorus proved me way way wrong. Just hearing your hoarse voice scream sent goosebumps trickling down my spine. While I thought the brilliantly written attacks placed on your fellow peers from your verse couldn't be topped, you yet again proved me wrong with the simple, yet extremely effective "I will hate you." Next time someone insults or criticizes me, I am 100% using that as a comeback. Basedshady - I don't think Jaba was being homophobic on the "you're a fag line" whatsoever. While smartasses also think it's cool when they say "A faggot is a bundle of sticks, DUH!" and that's clearly never what anyone means by that word, I plugged it into this context, and I believe it was an amazing play on words by Jaba. He says "you're a fag," leaving anyone who is even mildly put off by him the grounds to attack and go at him, yet all he's saying you are is a pile of sticks. You're a pile of sticks that has the power to be ignited and burn him down with your criticism and all, but as long as he doesn't light the flame, you remain powerless. ... It's a metaphor.

06. 12 At Night (feat. Eedee & Mr. DGAF) - For this song, I'm only going to review Jaba's verse, and that's for a couple reasons. The first being that I don't think DGAF or Eedee, and respects to both, fully understood the ingenious underlying concepts of the EP, and so couldn't make verses that went along with it. I'll go one step further, and don't take offense at this guys, but Jaba's mic quality, flow, rhyming, and personality was far ahead of both of yours'. You of course should not take offense at that because before I said that I specifically instructed you not to take offense. Jaba - this track is incredible, showing the skill you have in continuing a concept without ever specifically mentioning it. You discuss hanging out late and ignoring all curfews. Before you got trapped in the state of your mind - left to explore it - you would stay out late because it was past the bed times of all the bullies, so you could live free of them. You go on to say "We must fight against time," meaning you want to make the night-time setting forever, so you stop getting all the hate and criticism. You then say "Every breath could be your last," saying how once it's late at night, you rule, and even if there were a bully there to confront you, they wouldn't stand a chance. This song also shows the setting in which you are now (trapped, of course). You're buried deep in the corners of the your mind, so while it might not necessarily be night, there are still not any bullies, and you are empowered. Whatever happened to get you to where you are, it has left you free of all criticism, and free to analyze your life without mean, sarcastic commentary.

07. Diss Song - Ahhh, diss song. I've talked shit about this song, mostly because of the presence of what I viewed as a random diss towards me, but now I see that it's just another aspect of an ingeniously engineered masterpiece. This is a mirror to "I Hate You," this one made after you've become buried and "trapped." "I Hate You," as I previously discussed, takes place before, and is directed at real people, while after you explore yourself, you use this song to call out people on the internet. While this was regarded by most people on this forum as a loser move, I see it more as a metaphor. Before, you were hurt by real people and are forced to make comebacks (which, I'll admit, are all great), but in this setting, the only people left to get back at are those from the web. This is an improvement if you ask me, because the only people insulting you now are those that don't understand your personal and emotional situation, whereas in "I Hate You," you were talking to people who insulted you because of your personal and emotional situation. Still, in the end, you reach another conclusion, different from that stated at the beginning of the song, causing its meaning to suddenly change. You say "Watch out 'cause you don't belong in this game." Even though the only people hating on you now are those that don't even know or understand you, you say that they still don't belong in your mind, showing extreme growth in maturity. That's the best aspect of this song to be honest. From the outside, it looks like an immature, stupid, idiotic, homophobic, pointless, loser, decrepit shell of a human being. Within the context of the EP, it becomes something that shows how much more you've grown since the start of the album when you complained about being trapped. You're truly using the situation you've been stuck in to your advantage, and I applaud you for this, sir.

08. Night Out (feat. Mat Demaz) - The choice of instrumental for this track is genius, and although you clearly understand the reason why, I'll still write it down so all these non-understanding fools can see the true intentions behind Jaba's actions. The point of the Rick Rolling is too fool someone, so at the beginning of the track, it seems like your intent is to fool the listener. However, this is not the case. In a wowing change of events, you're actually showing how you fooled the person mentioned in "Inspiration." While you described her as meaning the world to you, you've now seen that she was simply among the other people criticizing you and making fun of you. She pretended to like you and even love you, but she was secretly doing it only to poke fun at you. It's sorta like someone reviewing an album they - along with everyone else - thought was crap, and then praising it, purely for mockery. Screw people like that. Back to the subject, you've realized she was really stabbing you in the back this whole time, and now see that you wouldn't have been able to come back from being trapped until you reached this revelation. I love how say "Jaba is just for 'just a bitch and asshole,'" referring to the nickname this person calls you behind your back. The best part is, you take that nickname and use it solely to your advantage, releasing an awe-inspiring EP under the alias of what could be considered your lowest moment. Rapping and flowing, as usual, was incredible. I know this might seem crazy, but this song is what brought you into my top 5. Demaz - it was ok, I guess, but put against the genius of Jaba, you sorta seem like you're just rambling. Don't take offense at this, and you can't now that I've told you not to, but I'm confident saying that Jaba totally renegaded you on this track. I mean c'mon, he's rapping about incredibly hidden concepts and you're just doing some standard rap verse. Better luck next time buddy. Jaba - incredible track on your part. Props to you both. Still giving Demaz props for agreeing to do a song with someone he knew would be better, so I admire your confidence, sir.

09. Fucked Over - Ah, the final track of an incredible EP. Closure. You sing again on this track, and it's once again incredible. Using the first verse to apologize for all your mistakes and then go on to attack everyone around you was ingenious. That's because it's from the viewpoint of yourself after being trapped and before being trapped, obviously. In this track, you offer another explanation for the origin of your name, saying how it's from a Relapse song. This is clearly untrue, and the nickname by your backstabbing crush is clearly the true version, but this is your way of apologizing to her for any mistakes you may have made and showing that you still respect her, even though you may not necessarily love her anymore. The idea behind this track is showing how you initially became trapped, so it's sorta like a cyclical album. People fuck you over, and it leads to you being trapped. However, this track has been made as you recover your lost strength, so its interesting to hear you tell two stories at one time. On the last verse, you go on to say things similar to what you said in "I Hate You," which was confusing to me at first, because it seemed to show the loss of all the maturity you had gained throughout the EP. However, I listened to it again, and released the last verse is directed at the version of you rapping in "I Hate You," saying how even though the haters were mean, the only person you really hate now is the one that fired back, because he was too weak to deal with it and not base his life off of the opinions of others. That last verse was the best possible way you could have ended this masterpiece of an EP, and it is truly spectacular.

_________

This is the greatest thing ever to be posted in audio section. Couldn't help but notice at first that this album was posted exactly a year after I released my debut, and I was flattered, but then I realized my album is not even comparable to this collection of insight, realization, and maturity. No doubt the greatest, smartest, and most well-spoken user/rapper on TR. Gonna send this to every single person I know, because anyone who hasn't heard this thought-changing beauty is truly lacking something in their life.

[shadyblogger]

^ holy fuck what a review.

[PAINKILLƎR]

Well, where do I begin... You need a lot of work man, like a whole lot. Lets start with your delivery. It's pretty bad your voices volume goes from high to low I don't know if it's because a shortage of breath but it's pretty bad. The thing with you pausing and splitting the syllables has to go, it doesn't sound good, it's awkward and messes your flow up. You also need to enunciate you words well, I had a hard time understanding what you were trying to say fro most of the ep. So try to work on this, going to go for a track by track review.

Intro/Trapped
Wasn't able to catch too much of the song, what I was able to get was I guess you feeling alienated from society; people say you're evil, your parents are crazed, troubled song I guess makes sense since you sound like you rap with a muzzle on. Flow and delivery is pretty botched. Nothing else really to say, could give you better feed if you posted the lyrics up tbh. 1/10

Alone
This is a lot better, delivery and flow is smoother but still needs a lot of work. The content alright I guess, self-expression is good. Rhyming is poor. A lot of questionable lines though for example the "I feel like an asteroid, just wanna hit you in the face" like are you serious man? Not good man. Hook was meh 3/10

Hope
Well I see you produced this beat, it's not bad kinda decent, seemed very loud though. Right off the bat I noticed there's like a lot of random thoughts. Also in the beginning you're wondering if you'll ever be known or famous then you go on to say that you don't care about being famous and on tv so why would you contemplate about it. 1/10

Inspiration
This is that love song right, well I like the beat, so whoever produced this good job. This song is hypothetical, correct because I doubt you're homeless living in a tent, and had a stroke and have thrown your life away for a relationship. Rhyming was really poor, basically your whole first verse all you rhymed was words with "ation" in them. Elementary rhymes man, late/date? gotta step it up. Delivery was flat, monotone, not good man. But this is one of your better executed songs. 4/10

I Hate You
lol well this is atrocious. has some of the worst lines I've ever heard. I see what you're trying to do but man this is wrong. Rhyming is terrible. The whole song is terrible. 0/10

12 at Night
Jaba's verse is basically an improved version of the track above, still not good really. DGAF had a good flow and so did Eedee his delivery and flow were great but the verse was weird and corny lines. 3/10

Diss Song
This is actually your best song in every aspect, you're rhyming and lines were pretty good and your flow and delivery is better than most of your other tracks but that's probably because you bit Eminem harder than any of your previous songs. Still had some highly questionable lines though. 5.5/10

Night Out
Jaba again the lyrics are just not good man. Demaz you crazy for this one! Demaz killed it of course, his adlib game is amazing. 3.5/10

Fucked Over
Piano sounds familiar... anyway, you had a decent flow on this song, delivery was ehh. I don't understand the song either. 3.5/10

In conclusion, you need to stop trying to rap like Eminem. Content wise and delivery wise, just don't do it. Enunciate your words well man, I couldn't understand most of what you were saying that's why my review is so fucking vague, there isn't much to go on about if I don't know what you're saying most of the time. Your rhyming needs a lot of work, you should write piece in the creative writing section to improve your writing skills.

[yung rom]

I think yung rom is jaba.

Read it carefully and all will be revealed fam

[shadyblogger]

@Pain, I think you hit the nail on the head with the not being able to understand part. That was the biggest downfall of the album and it was such a big issue that it negatively affected the entire album. Jaba, if we can't understand what you're saying/the audio or mixing or whatever is poor and hard to decipher then the whole thing becomes rubbish even if your lyrics are dope or you have a cool beat. Your voice should be #1 priority (includes your actual intonation and how easy it is to understand what you are saying and also how clear your voice is in the mixing; in this case the mixing was muddy and your voice was not clear) and when you don't treat it like one, the whole thing suffers.