Happy 25th Anniversary to The Unspoken Heard’s debut album Soon Come…, originally released September 4, 2001.
When people discuss independent hip-hop in the 21st century, they focus on the left-of-center material. Metal-Faced Villains. Bi-Pedal aardvarks with helium voices. Mech Soldiers traversing the cosmos. The army of Def Jukies. I love these artists’ music and have written many tributes for this site paying homage to the albums that they released.
But often a lot of the other vital artists who recorded during this era aren’t properly appreciated. These include emcees and groups who made straight-ahead soulful and jazzy hip-hop and distributed their music independently because the mainstream labels of the world weren’t interested in supporting their vision. They were sonic peers to Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, INI, Black Star, and the Native Tongues crew, and they released more than their share of great albums.
Among the best are Gabriel “Asheru” Benn and Robert “Blue Black” Jackson, who came together as The Unspoken Heard. They released Soon Come…, their debut project, 25 years ago. It’s among the best albums of the 21st century to date.
Unspoken Heard is a product of the DMV (as in DC/Maryland/Virginia) hip-hop scene. Asheru, a Maryland native, and Blue Black, a New York transplant, first met each other in the mid-1990s while attending the University of Viriginia in Charlottesville. They connected through their mutual love of hip-hop music, linking up with other-like minded students. It was at the University of Virigina that they met Wes Jackson, who would go on to found 7Heads Entertainment. The label would eventually go on to distribute their music, as well as projects by J-Live, El Da Sensei, and Mr. Complex.
Asheru and Blue Black first hit the shelves in the mid-1990s. Blue Black first put out the dope “Bon Vi (The Good Life)” 12-inch back in 1995. As The Unspoken Heard, the pair made themselves known starting in 1997, putting out two EPS and multiple 12-inches. It all portrayed a couple of emcees who came into the rap world fully formed, who had learned from their role models but forged their own musical identities.
Asheru and Blue Black’s lyrical performances throughout Soon Come… demonstrate their depth and maturity. Both utilize a laid back, conversational flow and straightforward sensibilities to deliver their deceptively complex rhymes. The two push back on the over-commercialization and moral compromises that permeate mainstream rap music, while expressing their commitment to advancing hip-hop culture.
Listen to the Album:
And the two emcees know how to ride a track. Even though the pair work with an array of producers throughout the project, their vocals and rap styles mesh perfectly with the beats, and the sound throughout the album is cohesive. Though the production credits on the album can be a bit confusing (a quarter of a century later, and I’m not really sure about the distinction the liner notes make between “Beats by…” and “Produced by…”), Soon Come… features a whole host of up-and-coming and extremely talented sound architects who’d make their names throughout the first decade of the 21st century and beyond.
As the kids say these days, Soon Come… is very much a vibe. The team of sound architects put together what is likely the best collection of tracks built around piano and jazz-guitar samples ever assembled on an album. Overall, the project is very much one of the best-produced albums I’ve ever heard.
“Truly Unique,” one of the album’s first singles, is an upbeat anthem produced by Yusef Dinero. The two emcees traverse a college party, getting their bearings as they prepare to rock the crowd. They both describe the evening’s sights and sounds, while displaying their complex flows and elucidating the listeners on the group’s ethos. “Without getting all deep and philosophical,” Blue Back raps. “We creating a space where anything is possible / We making it so even if it's not logical / ’Cause we blend the spiritual with the biological.”
“Live At Home” is one of Soon Come…’s highlights. The pair trade verses about their musical origins and life philosophies, while delivering a blasé style exhibition. UK producer Richy Pitch creates one of my favorite beats of all time, pairing slightly off-beat piano samples with shuffling drums, incorporating whistles and vocal samples.
Overall, Asheru and Blue Black excel on tracks centered around their lyrical interplay. The Ge-ology-produced “B-Boy” is a fun song, with Asheru and Blue Black bouncing off each other over a plucky guitar sample, each delivering a series of four- and eight-bar verses. “I'm a b-boy, trendsetter; helluva vendetta,” Asheru raps. “Why? Because I know the state of Hip-Hop has been better / But when the going gets tough, what we do is reinvent / So the only thing clear is our intent.”
The two continue to trade brief verses on “Theme Music,” as they narrate their lives as hip-hop superheroes, sworn to protect the culture from those who would exploit it. The song features an extended coda that pays homage to some of the important hip-hop tracks that shaped their careers as emcees. “This is Me” is a laid-back entry, with Blue Black delivering three seemingly off-the-cuff verses to a meandering guitar loop, produced by the Sound Providers team.
Soon Come… features two previously released songs. The first, “Jamboree,” is an Asheru solo track. Backed by swinging horn samples, it has all the trappings of a party on wax, boosted by their extended crew’s friends chanting the “Shabooya (Roll Call)” routine from Spike Lee’s film Get On the Bus. Asheru positive energy beams through his verses, as he delivers lines like, “Whether you beatbox, or play the boombox / I’m about to drop Hip-Hop, and that’s non-stop.”
“Smiley,” originally released as part of an EP back in 1998, still fits in well in the album’s flow. Produced by Obsession of the Aboriginials production crew, it features the blissed-out early Sunday morning groove, with more than a few House music influences. It’s also one of the few hip-hop tracks I’m aware of, that features a lengthy flute solo.
Asheru and Blue Black do touch on deeper themes throughout Soon Come…. Asheru details his struggles as an artist on “Dear You,” disillusioned by the collapse of his relationship, after she ended things due to his stalwart commitment to his music. “Soul” is another powerful entry, as they emphasize the organic process of creating music that is honest and speaks to their audience on a personal level. Yusef Dinero hooks up a powerful track that features one of the best chopped piano samples I have ever heard.
Asheru again takes the lead on the album’s DJ Khalil produced title track, describing his journey as an emcee and his commitment to applying his music towards the lofty goal of upliftment. “Think About” is the crew’s team-up with the Lone Catalysts, a Columbus, OH-based group that was one the better institutions of hip-hop’s independent scene. Asheru and J. Sends demonstrate strong chemistry together, as the legendary J. Rawls hooks up another melancholy piano-based track. The extended saxophone solo that ends the track adds to the song’s emotional weight.
Soon Come… ends with the epic “Elevator Music,” one of my personal favorite album-closing tracks. It’s relatively short on lyrics, solely featuring a pair of eight-bar Blue Black verses. Geology crafts an otherworldly track, backed by ghostly vocal samples and atmospheric sounds. The use of a live Wurlitzer keyboard and a few intricate guitar solos adds to its ethereal mood. And even with the brevity of the verses, Blue Black manages to encapsulate the message of the album with two bars, rapping, “Perfect timing, we rhyme and the stars align / Making music so n****s in their right mind shine.”
Sadly, The Unspoken Heard didn’t release much new music as a duo post-Soon Come…. 7Heads put out 48 Months (2003), which compiled the majority of the music the duo released pre-Soon Come…, but there hasn’t been much beyond that. Asheru has continued to work in education as well as emceeing, putting out a few projects (some only released internationally} and recording the theme song to The Boondocks cartoon series. In the years after Soon Come…, Blue Black has reportedly built a career as a business consultant.
The Unspoken Heard seemed to be really setting themselves up as something special with Soon Come…. Even though we never got a proper follow-up, they established that intelligent, immaculately crafted and vibe-heavy music very much had a place in the vital independent hip-hop paradigm. If they ever decide to team up again, I’m confident there’s an eager audience willing to hear what they have to offer.
Listen:
