Album Review: Trey Lane - More Than Music EP (2009)

In the last few years Trey Lane has become somewhat of a staple in the Sioux Falls hip hop community. It's likely that he has had more hip-hop concerts locally than any other act. He has had good local success with the release of his past two albums, 'Built 4 This EP' in 2007 and 'The Standard' in 2008. Trey Lane has seen a majority of his local success boom in early to mid-2008 with several shows at Nutty's North getting attendance in the 300+, which is no easy feat in Sioux Falls. Lately, that success has paid off for him as he and FOE labelmate V the Noble One have been able to branch out and begin going to other locations outside of Sioux Falls to do shows. Locations such as Rapid City, Fargo, Omaha, Sioux City and Minneapolis. He has also seen a rise in sharing the stage with a number of big time hip hop artists including West Coast rapper "The Game." Say what you want about The Game, but The Documentary was a great album front to back.

Now it's 2009 and Trey Lane recently released his newest collection of songs called the "More Than Music EP." It has features from a variety of artists including Disturbing The Peace member Willy Northpole out of Arizona, and from Charlotte it has F.Dux, Overflow & Mar'iso. It also includes songs with FOE members V the Noble One, Kash, Bru'tal and Blitzkrieg. Finally, you will also hear features from A-Def of Soulcrate Music, Maniac of Nightshield Entertainment, LMo, and Danny Boy.

Upon listening, you will find Trey Lane more polished than his previous projects and you will find beats with the large instrumentation and synths that he is known for. There are a number of quality tracks on the album that are worth mentioning, one of my personal favorites is "Over & Over." This song seems like it should be a solo track by Trey Lane with just the singer Mar'iso because the feel that Trey Lane gives is that of one where he is going through some serious relationship problems with his significant other. He paints a very vivid portrait in his music and the hook is INSANELY CATCHY. You will find yourself singing it after you get out of the car.

Another great track is "Let'Em Know" that has a very in-your-face beat with a terrific chorus laced by V the Noble One. The FOE posse-cut "Hustle Or Starve" really rocks from start to end. I really think that all of the artist have their big time moments on this track including Trey Lane, Blitzkrieg's masterful off-beat flow and Ka$h where he says: "No rumor it's a fact I put the Ruger to ya hat/ Young mula on the track like a tumor on ya back/ An animal dog I'm eatin n***as hannibal raw/ built ford tough like a cannibal's jaw/"

Other bright moments include the fresh "Walk Ugly" track with an insanely grimey beat (catch that oxymoron?). The track features Attention Deficit - 1/3rd of Soulcrate spitting a razorsharp flow with terrific back to back multiples. The song "Fabricated" has a a very smooth verse by LMo: "Obnoxious concoctions coming straight from the cockpit/ Abolishin' novices into my hostages/" and Trey Lane's cleverly disgusting "I get down and dirty like a woman's hysterectomy."

However, the album does contain its flaws. The track "Shine" has a very boring and repetitive hook and beat, the track "On Deck" has an extremely lame beat and I would expect better with a feature like Willy Northpole, "When The Chips Are Down" just sounds hard to listen to when you have Trey's smooth flow and Maniac's in your face and abrasive flow, "Over & Over" could do without F.Dux's overpowering voice and effortless verse with empty vocals at the end. Lastly, the biggest criticism is that the album has 17 features on only 12 songs! Sure, it is just an EP, but even with an EP I expect less features. Mixtapes typically have this many features... either that or rap groups. V the Noble One is featured on half of the album which makes me wonder if this would not have been better served as an album by Trey Lane & V or far less features.
At the end of the day this is still a good listen and a solid contribution to Sioux Falls' local hip hop scene.

Best Line: "Life can be a b***h with no menstrual medication/ so I pass her a midol tell her take a vacation/" - Trey Lane Hustle Or Starve
Best Song: Walk Ugly (feat. A-Def of Soulcrate Music)
Rating: 7.2/10