PopularLemonade

Let’s get one thing straight:  No Weak Heart Shall Prosper is not a hip hop album, even though The Pirate Signal, which consists of emcee Yonnas & mixmaster AWHAT! has won awards locally in 2007, 2008, and 2009 for being the best hip hop group by Village Voice publication, Westword.

Upon first listen, the most logical decision that I made was to listen to No Weak Heart Shall Prosper again.  And again.  And one more time yet again.  It’s THAT good – if this album were a movie, it would be the type that is watched repeatedly because the viewer seems to notice some new clue or detail which was left unnoticed previously.

The last thing The Pirate Signal aims to do is rehash the 1993 hip hop sound which seems to be the elephant in the room for many most aspiring artists.  Yonnas and I have discussed this problem  at great lengths over the duration of our friendship and working relationship.

Yonnas states, “It’s 2010. THERE’S ONLY TWO YEARS LEFT! I wanted to make a time capsule of our life, not theirs.”  So while many folks are still copy-catting Rakim and Eminem, The Pirate Signal has dedicated their creativity to truly creating music which expands beyond the traditional genre lines of hip hop, indie rock, and dub step to truly define their own style.  Perhaps this is what music will sound like in 2020 after the genre boundary has been eliminated and people begin to open their minds to something fresh?

Being a female who craves a nice bass line, No Weak Heart Shall Prosper feeds that craving and then some.  Momentum is fluent from the opening track, It’s Get Busy Time Child!, which is an obvious knock of the 1997 Crystal Method track Busy Child without being too literal and too 90s raver-esque or overdone.  Yonnas and AWHAT! Have achieved what many try to do and have failed miserably: creating an album that’s entirely danceable without a commitment to one particular genre.

Feel like getting your face rocked off for three minutes?  Check out Blackhearts, which features F.O.E. and Karma of Jewell Tyme Music.

In the mood for a slower-paced but powerful take on society’s children?  Check out The Saga of Dirty Street Kids.

Craving the urge to dance in your living room in your skibbies?  Automatic and Darker, My Love are my new dance party theme songs.

Need a head banging moment while you’re stuck in traffic?  Put Mesfin’s Song (I Did Not Do This For You) on repeat.

Did Yonnas really just rap fasionista with Zapatista?  Yeah, it’s THAT kind of album.

In my opinion, quality music should make you want to do three things throughout the duration of its playlist:  punch someone, dance with someone, and fuck someone.  No Weak Heart Shall Prosper accomplishes all three without a hitch.

In the words of Yonnas, it’s not the end, but rather the beginning.  No Weak Heart Shall Prosper is scheduled for digital release nationally on July 15, 2010 and in your favorite record store on August 24, 2010.

In the meantime, you can check out the free No Weak Heart Shall Prosper teaser EP download which features four of the album tracks here.