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Ketchup reviewed by DaSouth.com

New Music





Armond- Ketchup (The Best of Armond 2010-2011) Review from DaSouth.com

After coming out with nine albums already, Armond set out to release a “catch-up” album to get people to hear the music he’s made so far. This collection is from 2010 to 2011. Let’s see what we got:

1. Wanna Hear A Joke?(Intro)- Real simple intro, I’m not sure if it’s from a movie, but its someone telling a joke about tomatoes and one lagging behind and then the tomato says “ketchup”. Corny or not, the title of the album is in it haha.

2. Beautiful Ashes feat. J Carter- Real smooth beat behind this track and basically speaks about the pains of the past that used to bring them back but because of Christ changing them God can even use them as examples to help him grow.

3. Rearview/Dashboard- For those of you who remember Dreaming Out Loud, this track is from there, for this album is basically a short collection of the music he has done so far so you can catch-up(ketchup get it?). The song is split in two parts beat wise and rearview deals with his life before Christ and leaving that behind and Dashboard deals with what’s to come, nice analogy if you ask me.

4. Never Going Back feat. Uriah- I like this beat gotta nice groove to it. I think that Uriah shouldn’t have kept singing behind Armond, it was kind of distracting to me, but he was a nice addition to the track as far as the chorus was concerned. All the tracks so far have dealt with the past in some way; this one speaks about heartache from a woman and moving forward from that.

5. The Highest- This is another track from his Dreaming Out Loud album, one of my favorites actually! This one deals with relationships as well and at the end there’s a sample of The Simpsons which draws on the ketchup theme as well.

6. Airplanes(interlude)- A real song here, very transparent of the struggles he has went through, even after being a known minister. There is a track later on called “Glory” that goes in even more about this. One line that stuck out is when he said, “Foolish pride says, “It’s just me and God”/for whatever reason His people makes the even odd”. If there is one thing that annoys me is lone ranger Christians. Why would God say Adam couldn’t be alone but you want to be? Once you add God(who is a community within Himself), you will be lead to be around a community of believers, and if not you need to examine yourself.

7. Catch Up feat. Rich Tunes- Of course there had to be ONE track that says catch up haha! Basically saying they on the move for God and ya need to catch up lol! The rhymes here were nice to, reminds me of Redd Lettaz. Another funny sample this time from King of Queens about saying ketchup instead of catsup.

8. Forgive Me- Another track from Dreaming Out Loud, honest one here as well on forgiveness on the shortcomings in his life, from not speaking about Christ to being a hypocrite.

9. Blank Canvas- A track about parenthood and how he went through divorce and how it was dealt with. These kinds of things can impact a child’s life and he expressed his heart to show him in spite of the situation how to wait in wisdom on the right one and to avoid the pitfalls he fell into.

10. Wait It Out feat, Pizzie & J. Carter- I like the beginning of this track with the voice effects when the guy was saying “Wait It Out”. When the beat came in, I wasn’t really feeling it, and it affected his flow in the first verse. The track is about the end of days and the difference between those not waiting and living for the Lord before His return and those that don’t.

11. Chevy Impala Music (interlude)- Smooth beat right here, I like it! Speaks on many different topics that its hard to pinpoint the direction of the track...hey maybe he’s just spittin’ and that’s cool with me! Touched on everything from the past, to Christians looking too much about who’s a mason lol. Good stuff.

12. Glory- This track was released as a leak on Dasouth and Rapzilla and I heard it before seeing the controversy over it. It’s a raw track but I have honestly heard more direct and still didn’t have a problem with it, so why would I with this one. The wordplay on this one was great, and revealed the truth that the actions done don’t bring life but death but in the end giving his life to God, He gets the glory!

Categorical Ratings Breakdown:

Originality/Creativity(5/5): I like how he wove the theme of ketchup into using this album to “catch-up” people to the music he’s already done. The way he put the interludes in with samples from different shows were funny and at the same time highlighted the title of the album. Even the songs spoke about his past a lot and where he is now so as to “catch you up to speed”.

Lyrics(4.5/5): Always been impressed with Armond’s lyrical ability and it shows here as well. He uses a lot of imagery and wit to get his heart across and speaking of the heart, his transparency is something I appreciate.

Delivery(4.5/5): Along with the nice lyrics, there has to be a good delivery and Armond...wait for it...delivers on this as well. You can feel the passion especially when he’s bearing his heart out with his struggles, etc.

Beat Selection/Production(4/5): Armond picks good beats that fit his style and personality. It’s rarely hard-hitting, but allows for introspection and contemplation. Some tracks were of course secular instrumentals and he chose the type of beats that call for introspection and transparency as well.

Concept/Arrangement(3.5/5): Delivered well on the concept of the album, some of the arranged tracks maybe could have been better, for the first few tracks of the album dealt with almost the exact same thing, regarding the past, but it was a pretty cool arrangement.