Ceschi :: The One Man Band Broke Up

It’s been four years since Ceschi’s last album, “They Hate Francisco False.” It was a blend of indie folk and left-field hip-hop that was described as “an album even hardcore underground hip-hop fans may have trouble relating to.” During his hiatus from recording, he spent a lot of time on the road in places like Canada, Europe and Japan, in addition to the U.S. with artists like Myka9, Awol One, Sole and Onry Ozzborn.After starting his own Fake Four Inc. label which is home to many of the aforementioned artists, Ceschi eventually got back to recording his most recent album with Equinox Records founder, DJ Scientist. Building on the mutual adoration of rare ’60s and ’70s psychedelic, progressive & folk rock and hip-hop from the ’90s, the two came up with “The One Man Band Broke Up.” Determined to create a melodic, dark and unabashedly progressive hip-hop concept album, Ceschi presents the story of the rise and fall of a musician haunted by the demons of his past.

True to his word, “TOMBBU” is a mix of the aforementioned genres. Throughout the album, the pendulum swings back and forth between indie folk rock and hip-hop several times. Some of the songs combine the elements such as “Half Mast.” Other songs like “No New York”, “Fallen Famous” and “Bad Jokes” lean towards the hip hop end of the spectrum. As with Ceschi’s previous release, there’s a great deal of singing on this album. Many of the shorter songs on “TOMBBU” are delivered with a sound that is almost Beatle-esque in nature, but they don’t sound forced or come off as out of place. In fact, these tracks help to keep the story moving along.

Guests on the album include Shoshin, MiC King, David Ramos and Max Heath. All of which help Ceschi bring life to this story of a fallen musician that ironically ends in the death of Julius, our embattled protagonist. Overall, the entire package may not appeal immediately to those that are new to the genre or simply prefer a different type of hip-hop (read: I highly doubt that many Rick Ross fans would pick this up as well).However, with repeated listens and a little bit of patience, listeners may be more prone to give a fair shake to Ceschi and his brand of hip-hop. When paying close attention to the lyrics, the narrative is quite vivid here and probably happens much more often than any of us even know. RIP Julius.