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Numerology

At the Bandcamp music website, users can add their reviews. In 2022, Seattle hip-hop artist Wizdumb wrote a very flattering post about the twentieth anniversary re-release of Numerology by Specs One: “(Numerology) formulated my approach to hip hop. It showed me that it doesn’t need to be a clean slate, it can be dusty, the mic distorted, there can be imperfections, that the rule book could be thrown out the window.” I have to agree with his assessment of Specs One’s music on this complicated and beautiful album.

Numerology starts with a ten minute track called “Morning Hustle,” which is a triptych of three successive instrumental beats. “S.F.R.” (Swiss Family Robinson) is the first track displaying Specs One’s very distinctive, fuzzy, lo-fi rap style. As far as content goes, Specs is neither gangsta nor conscious. His raps are word puzzles, concise phrases that match together. “Your beats are like Rover. Fetch! Y’all don’t know what the fuck’s next. Putting young bucks to rest,” is a nice line from “Over Wit.” “Give me a mic onstage, it’s all over wit,” goes the chorus, drawn from the Lord Finesse track “Bad Mutha.” Since the word “wit” means “inventiveness” and “humor,” this track title takes on double or triple meaning.

“Night Hustle” is instrumental just like “Morning Hustle,” and it’s a good example of the Specs production style. Things usually start with a looped beat which then goes through permutations and subtle rearrangements until you feel like you have looked at it from every angle. If you don’t pay attention things will sound repetitive, but there is much happening below the surface of every Specs One beat. Other times he will flip a 180 and run the same sample over and over ad nauseam until it becomes hypnotic.

I think my favorite on the album is “Genosha.” It’s four minutes long, a full track, as opposed to fragments like “The Call,” or “Smoke Break.” The dense lyrics of “Genosha” flow fast and furious. “You’re crying boo hoo, wasn’t hip to the voodoo,” he mocks. The simple melody in the beat is confoundingly addictive, my ear can’t decide if it’s dissonant or harmonious. I should also give a quick shout out to the excellent “Eastward Glance” and its long recited list of Seattle hip-hop luminaries. Specs One aka Specswizard has had one of the longest-running careers in Seattle rap history, and he is still active in the rap scene. If you want to get hip to Specs, 2002’s Numerology is a perfect place to start. Written by Novocaine132

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The Long Awaited Mega EP

Here’s a rare vinyl pressing of Specswizard’s The Long Awaited Mega EP from 2005. It’s a sample-heavy release, but it’s all analog, with no computers or quantization, so everything’s a little squishy. This music swings. On the first side, “Unusual” breathes new life into a famous Tom Jones sample, while “Finer Things” samples a harpsichord from a Bach fugue, and then reverses it. The lyrics try to convince you that next year when he’s finally “making all kinds of dough” that he’ll finally be that classy dude. It’s towards the end of this track, when Specs starts repeating “H2O” that you notice there’s a bit of Jenga happening: On the second side is a short track called “H2O,” and it’s a long roll-call of local 2005-era hip-hop greats: Jake One, Silver Shadow D, Wordsayer, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Nasty Nes, and more. My fav track, “Concrete,” is also on side two. It’s a deceptively funky number, one that finds its head-bobbing grove after a short burn-in period. There are also two instrumentals (of “Unusual” and “Concrete”) to close out the vinyl. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Here’s another take:

Back when I lived in the city, I used to see Specs lurking around Capitol Hill now and again. Tall, dressed in the Northwest signature strata of thrift-score layers, seemingly taller even due to his lankiness, with nappy hair and a Fu Manchu mustache, the man struck an immediate image: instantly memorable, a little off-kilter, but with everything impeccably in its place. The same can be seen in his visual artworks and heard here in his music and poetry. The man is an artist, let there be no doubt, but moreover, you could say HE is art, and his work is just an extension of the man. In everything I’ve ever encountered regarding him, there is a rock-solid deliberateness and a deep sense of craft. Listen to any of his records, it’s easy to hear if you’re looking for it. Just the fact that he makes all his own beats, and has few, if any, guests is a testament to his unique vision. And let there be no doubt, Specs has a vision, regarding hip-hop and most likely beyond, and he has no interest in diluting it or becoming more mainstream. I get the feeling he really doesn’t care if you feel what he’s doing or not. It just has to come out; he just has to lay it down. Not that his music is inaccessible at all. It may be rough and scratchy (purposefully of course), but the music Specs makes is instantly memorable, with unanticipated hooks and steady, head-nod-ic beats. His vocal delivery is likewise steady, mellow, confident, and immediately likable. And no other release of his demonstrates this like this one: 2005’s The Long Awaited Mega EP. From the intro track “North Again”, to its closing Reprise “H2O” this vinyl is the smoothest and most even Specs has ever put down. The signature off-kilter beats, vinyl pops, and tape hiss present in all his music are copiously heard here as well, but the noise is curbed a little, and the layers of sound go deeper and sound cleaner… Thanks to engineer Bean One, I’d imagine. “North Again” is a fitting opener, with its low organ loop, sustained synth note, and rain and bong hits in the background. Specs waxes over the sporadic beat, laying down who and what he’s about. “It’s all future with the outlaw Buddha,” he speaks quietly about, and probably to himself, before launching into a name-check of many of his NW hip-hop compatriots, that continues until the song fades out (the list continues with the fade-in of “H20” on side B). The most frenetic track, and also the most difficult to listen to, is the follow-up to the hypnotic opener. “Unusual” features Stymie, Specs’ hype man, (who Charles Mudede says is the size of a G.I. Joe) doing what he does over a short, hiccuping track, and is probably placed in the coveted 2nd spot on the record to keep the listener on his toes and guessing. “Regular Ish” follows, which has to be one of the most infectious tracks Specs has ever made (and also, at two minutes long, one of the most criminally short). Somewhere between Paul Horn and Omid, the song is a heavy, Doc Marten-stomping, psychedelic celebration. Perhaps the most standard song in Specs entire catalog, “Finer Things”, is his take on the classic hip-hop cliche about blowing up, making money, and spending it on his girl, except when I listen to this, the personal nature of his music makes me feel like he’s talking in the mirror here. Side two opens with the sinister Atari-instrumental “2k5”, before breaking in with the seriously danceable low-fi masterpiece “Concrete”. The music sounds like it’s coming from a film strip (remember watching those slide shows in elementary school? I’m dating myself here); even the drums sound empty and warbly, but I swear nothing has ever been more groovy. I could put this on loop and listen all day. If I could dance worth a damn, I’d do that, too. “H20” follows, and acts as the bookend to the album, followed by instrumentals of “Unusual” and “Concrete”. All told the EP is just over 24 minutes in length, but what a strong set of songs it is! I can’t believe he limited this to only 500 copies. After this smooth, relatively clean-sounding record–an aesthetic in common with its predecessor, Return of the Artist–Specs turned over a couple of pages and came back deliberately more psychedelic and spaced-out for the incredible Original Space Neighbors album (under the alias Mic Mulligan and S. Future). His following work has delved even more into the abstract, rough, scratchy, well-worn sound, which fits the man perfectly. Listening to his aged loops and his whispered delivery, it’s obvious he wants the listener to cue in and be explicitly aware of the history behind the sound, the history of the art of hip-hop as he sees it, and the history of the man presenting it. After being in the industry for more than twenty years, Specs is the rarest of cats: one that has consistently stayed true to his vision, and kept his signature sound, while constantly changing and ever-progressing. Perhaps he accomplished this because he never subscribed to a particular genre or niche in hip-hop. Specs One has always just sounded like Specs One. (This review originally appeared on the Bring That Beat Back blog and was written by Jack Devo.)

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Return of The Artist

Return of The Artist is an album that will always be ahead of its time. Specs One is a producer and rapper mixed into one person, a hip-hop genius straight from the 206. The CD begins with three solid vocal tracks “Open,” “The S,” and “Attack Of The Clones,” then the instrumental vibe of “North” cleanses your mental palate. The chorus of track five, “Who Is He?” comes in like hot green peppers, and your toes will definitely be tapping. “Who Is He?” is bonkers, simultaneously rough and smooth. “Rap Stuff” follows, then two more instrumentals, “Travel Addict” and “Home Suite.” While “North” and “Home Suite” could be described as musical interludes, “Travel Addict” is a full-length instrumental track that shows Specs One’s talent at constructing multi-layered soundscapes that constantly surprise and delight the listener. After a short love song titled “Only You” comes a skit, “Finding Mic” which leads right into track eleven, “Ode To Mics.” “Ode To Mics” is another signature Specs One slam dunk from this all-around superb release. Instrumental “The Block” sneaks by, then “Done” fades the album out to the last track, the wistfully sentimental “Wide World.” (Written by Novocaine132.)

Here’s another take:

Specs One, the mastermind behind the legendary 206 acts the Elevators, The Crew Clockwise, and many others, dropped this album in 2004. Return of the Artist is a fitting name for this album, as it heralded a rebirth of Specs as a rhyme artist and producer. For years Specs had been legendary as the most underground of underground heads in Seattle, releasing shit at shows and at the mom and pop stores on cassette and through mail order. This was his first widespread release (on CD!), as far as I know. Released on the Abduction label, this was also a change stylistically from his previous projects. On his various tracks from his salad days (Numerology, American Music, Balcony,etc) his work had a distinctly experimental vibe, allowing the tracks to stretch out and grow on their own. I revere this early stuff with something close to adoration. Everything I’ve ever found by Specs has been a treasure. Here, Specs goes as straight-ahead hip-hop as Specs gets, which means it’s still underground, scratchy, and experimental as most cats never dare to go, but it’s all systems ahead with beats to make the head nod and lyrics that are always engaging. No track ever lasts too long, and there’s never any lag between the musical/lyrical action. The songs are solid, distilled to the prime elements, and no-nonsense. This is a classic Northwest selection, ranked at the top. Long live the Green Lover! (This review originally appeared on the Bring That Beat Back blog and was written by Jack Devo.)

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