Kwing's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Glitch - Reflections Instrumen]

I can really groove to this - you're right in thinking you chose a damn good sample. The beat starts and ends pretty well with plenty of mix-ups and whatnot, but around the 1:30 mark through a good chunk of the track I felt like you just kind of sat on the loop and didn't do much with it, which was a slight disappointment. It might have been prudent to squeeze in another sample or two just so it would have given you more to work with. Very nice though.

glitchs2d responds:

Thanks, honestly the only reason I didn't expand more on the beat is self doubt. I am much more competent and confident in my rapping than in my beat making. Maybe I will get there one day with my beats as well.

[Houseparty(a Guide To Winning)]

Oh hey. I listened to this on your Bandcamp but just found it now here. You really stretch some of the rhymes, but like the rest of the album, it's unapologetically YOU, and I can respect that. The beat really dominates the track at a few points, which takes away from the vox, unfortunately, because I think you really did hit the Charlie Sheen theme on the head.

[HDC: Sky v Sound Breaker]

Fuck this is excellent. I thought compliment battles were tough to judge, but this is something else.

Sky V1 - Stayed in-character throughout the entire battle. Flow had its stumbling points (which, in this case, is better for filling the criteria) and sounded more like a freestyle than anything. One thing that didn't do it for me was that your diction suffered a tiny bit, which I feel was intentional but didn't really bring anything to the table for me. Liked the ISIS line a lot.

Breaker V1 - Comes with much more consistent flow, but rather than sounding energetic it just feels more natural and dismissive rather than sluggish. The overall imagery and structure here is very nice - liked the "speed of lag" rhymes and brain scan bars. I'm a bit lukewarm on the finisher since it's nearly identical to Sky's.

Sky V2 - The opener didn't really do it for me, partially because the sound effects were more lazy than chill - there is a difference, I think. Coming back with the yawn line and suicide note was sick, though the obvious gamble was throwing away four bars.

Breaker V2 - Suicide comeback is good but gives the impression of being focused (fuck, why did you guys have to make this so hard to judge?) I also feel like you were a bit assertive on the 'too relaxed to try.' The repetition is alright, but I feel like 'where was I?' was kind of riding on the coattails of Sky's last verse (again!)

I think there was potential for some hilarious punches, perhaps if one of the contestants told the other to calm down. That said, as far as I'm aware this is uncharted territory, and you both were mad creative. Sky's first verse showed superior versatility with schemes and technical ability while also blending it with chillness. Sky was a bit more direct, though at points I felt that he got in his own way. Up until Breaker's second verse I would have given the win to Breaker, but seeing as both of his verses contained near-plagiarism from Sky, I don't really feel comfortable giving him the win. On the flipside, if you only listened to Sky's verses, you would have no idea that another emcee was originally on the beat, whereas Breaker half attempted a flip.

Fuck. Well, taking everything into account, I would say Sky barely, BARELY edged this battle. The 'chill' competition was something both competitors agreed on, and Sky pulled off the persona more convincingly. He came good in his first verse and better in his second, while Breaker seemed like he was trying too hard in his second verse. This was tough as shit to judge - hell, if your verses are to be believed, it seems this battle is harder to judge than it was to write and perform. But, there can only be one, so I vote Sky, even though I don't think my vote counts.

[Glitch - Old School Groove]

Classic OLD school sound... Never gets OLD. Waaaait a second...

Aside from that one little blunder in the hook, this is damn good. The three of you are so different but it really works. You all flowed really well on a beat that's dastardly fast and in the end result is great. The schemes were nice, but the lack of multis was a bit of a letdown. Rezzy had a few, but most of the rhymes came from identical suffixes, which kind of leave a stale taste in my mouth. Of course, this isn't a big deal considering this track is a throwback to a different generation of hip-hop.

glitchs2d responds:

Lmao, its a play on words really. Old School meant something from back in the days, classic meant the signature sound of the west coast, and the last old meant that it was timeless. Glad you liked the song though, and I might release some stuff with more lyrical complexity later, but that isn't really my strong point. My strengths lie in story telling and blending with the beat.

[HDC: Mao vs. Warspawn]

Mao V1 - I like the silly approach but the 'rip arms off, bloody target' stuff didn't really fit the verse in my opinion. Emotional outburst is great. 'Absolutely gross' was pretty good. Elder line is a little long-winded and muddled.

Spawn V1 - Wasn't sure if "no one is ducking you" is supposed to be a flip or personal or what, since I'm not aware of any backstory behind these two. Tight scheme of filler. Produced diss, entire tracklist are relevant but could have been aimed at anyone. "You got dissed more than I did" was a damn good hit.

Mao V2 - Three weeks is decent, "no one noticed they were gone" is an awesome diss. 'Every woman/every voice' are alright disses. Old man diss is alright, homosexual flip is alright.

Spawn V2 - 'Rather do nothing' is great, 'eat this pussy' is great. Gay flip is alright. Diction starts to falter partway through this verse, but "stretch phonics" is a good diss, though it sounds a little funny since it came immediately after some slightly faulty enunciation.

This is a pretty good battle, but things didn't really heat up until the second round. War-Spawn did his thing, though a few lines were missing the delivery to make the punches hit hard. Mickey had a couple good lines but came too serious in contrast to his usual jokey demeanor and in my opinion that's what cost him the battle. Spawn is probably a lot harder to knock out with insults than with jokes, and I think Mickey learned that the hard way.

Spawn for the win.

[Shine]

This has a strong Ratatat vibe to it. Really digging this beat, though listening to it again it doesn't have the kind of re-listening value I would have hoped for. Overall a little simplistic for my tastes. A bass line and some drum switch-ups would have patched that right up.

[I LIKE YOUR HAT]

I've always been a fan of Eastern European music, and fusing the old folk style with some synth works surprisingly well. For what it is, I don' think it could be much better, though it is rather short.

[Dirty-Finger Man (instr.)]

Damn this is HOT. Kind of like the calm before a storm. This isn't totally crazy on its own but it's just begging to be spit over.

[Thin Air]

I like this a lot. As others have stated there's a lot of repetition, but the fact that the main theme is seven beats long with a rest kind of mixes things up a bit. I would have liked to see an alternation with and without the rests so it alternated between 7/8 and 8/8 but either way this is groovy as fuck.

[Walk On feat. Jar]

I haven't reviewed this yet? Huh, I downloaded all of your tracks and have had them on loop while playing Worms.

Holy shit man. Your rhyme scheme is perfect - multis galore. Content is perfect - the third-person perspective prevents it from sounding self-absorbed while you tell a ruthlessly dark narrative. Beat is perfect. Damn man, this is crazy.

jukelames87 responds:

oh man, i havent checked this bad boy in ages. thanks so much for the props man. glad you got something out of it.