CD Review Collective Efforts – “Freezing World”

By Eric Chavez

In the musical world, so many acts trip over themselves trying to be hot. This makes it even more refreshing that Collective Efforts seem to just want to chill. Effortless and smooth, Freezing World sends a gentle beat-based breezed through your mind. The LP, a concept record, is full of musical ice, but the delivery from the boys brings the heat.

Rap is known for its simple-beats and cliché lyrics on bling, hoes, and the club. Collective Efforts don’t play that. Like a rose rising from the snow, Collective efforts breathe life and beauty into the limp genre. Unlike trendy rap artists, Collective Efforts sound isn’t frozen in time. Though they aren’t alone, for there are plenty of fresh rap acts out there, they are definitely one of the best.

At first crack, the albums first track “Tunnel Vision” melts the tension with its funky fusion of longue and hip-hop. Perhaps the groups most atmospheric work, the song gives past rap-haters something to love about the genre.

Tingled with musical ice water, “The Game” and “Hour of Change” drip with steamy sounds.  On the other side, “So Cold” has the frozen solid sound, mixing hard hip-hop with soft piano samples, making it the darkest, but also one of the most memorable of the disc.

Standing out like a glacier in the ocean, “Good Energy” slides the listener down a musical journey. Airy and haunting, “Good Energy” brings nothing but good energy and funky feelings with its vivacious vibes.

Flowing to the jazzy side, “Crazy Things,” “Freezing World,” and “Try Again” get down to the sassy samples that move your feet to their boss beats. “Time to Grow” has the feel-good vibe that the band is known and loved for, and though they stay true to their roots on this album, this song and more show that the band has always grown in their sound and their message.

Scented with soul and frozen in funk, the album stands as the best rap album in 10 years. With rhymes tight and rhythms right, Freezing World shows that not all rappers ice is diamonds. Rarely can a rap album actually be all killer and no filler, but at the end of this ice-age era of the band, it’s only obvious these  men will survive to the next era of rap.