From Di-Ra Boys in the 80s, to Silent Lambs in the 90s, to Black Stax in the present, Jace has long been a major force in the Seattle hip hop scene. Red Scribe Pages is a solo album he released in 2004. His style on most tracks is predominantly staccato rap, not full sentences but just short monotone phrases stacked with meaning and double entendres. Each line stands alone, apart from the song. This album isn’t a collection of a dozen songs, it’s a collection of a thousand sentences.
“Hustle Backwards” starts the album with a swirly, climbing synth beat produced by Mr. Hill. Next are a couple of Bean One joints. “Message” musically conveys a haunted house experience while Jace goes abstract. “Collect your thoughts like coins, now we join,” he intones like a hypnotist. While “Struggle” has some popcorn to it, I found it a little difficult to catch.
For a dose of jazz, check out “Gunwise.” The dialogue sample throughout the track explains that the power of a microphone is more than that of a gun. In the refrain Jace reminds his peers that one must “rap with intellect.”
The aggressively moody “Black Poison” produced by Dropcast has speedy momentum, and thanks to its imagery plus a more standard rhyme style it’s probably my favorite song on Red Scribe Pages. By contrast “Mind Element” goes a little more atonal with the loop, keeping things off-balance and on-brand.
All-too-short “Good Time” packs a celebratory-sounding piano melody, starkly contrasting with the rest of the album’s eerie, opaque mystery. “Scripted” has built-in drama lurking in the soundscape and a couple of lyrical easter eggs. Listen for the Do The Math reference.
Two more Mr. Hill creations are next. The “Unknown Origin” beat sounds like a mad doctor. Mr. Hill did a bunch of songs with New York legend Kool Keith, and feels borrowed from one of those sessions. “Focus like telescopes,” Jace directs the listener. To me, “Unexpected Shots” brings it back to that rousing movida I found appealing on “Black Poison,” and it’s another of my favorites here. Jace repeats, “Remember or forget me not,” at various points through the track.
“Unconscious” has an easy Jazzmatazz vibe, and an accelerated rap flow. The last song “Energy” features Silas Blak, Jace’s longtime musical partner and a Seattle rap veteran in his own right. Written by Novocaine132
