Steve 'Flash' JuonIt’s an East meets West collabo’ on this EP as one of New York’s Brown Bag AllStars in the form of Koncept meets up with rising Cali producerTranzformer. Not coincidentally this newly minted duo chose the name “More Than Meets the Eye” to draw on the intentional similarity between the producer’s name and the cartoon of 1980’s fame. You won’t hear any samples from that show on this EP though – Koncept & Transformer are not being THAT blatant about it.
Speaking of blatant, when Koncept is rhyming on his own and not as part of the BBAS crew, he sounds UNCANNILY like Pacewon. Are they kin to blood related? Can you call them cousins? To be honest they might just be twins separated at birth! Koncept flows a little bit faster than his vocal resemblance, but the inflection of his vocal tone and the way he emphasizes words and phrases is so close you could be forgiven for confusing the two. What’s eerie is that he even pauses BETWEEN words in almost the same way. Unfortunately it’s the sort of thing that just doesn’t come out well in print, but there’s one other thing they definitely have in common: they love to get “High.”
“No I didn’t scuff your shoes; yeah I scuffed your shoes
Rap is a hell of a drug, that you fell into
Y’all look more dead than if you found out your moms lost
while y’all at a rap concert with your arms crossed
Kon’s an onslaught, more force than bomb squads
Gettin cold stares? Put on my long johns
That smoke that leaves your chimney, that warms your home the best see
Bringin back the lives of ghosts that only dead see”
At only five songs long, there’s not much room for mistakes or missteps on “More Than Meets the Eye.” Thankfully we can report all five songs shine. “How I Show Up” has Koncept vowing to go “hockey fighter with a pen” on the rhymes, while Tranzformer piles on layers of singing, drums and melody. “Change” featuring Jefferson Price is eerily reminiscent of a Roots track, right down to the ?uestlove strength of the drums and J.P. singing on the hook. Arguably taking a “Look Back” is a concept (no pun intended) that’s been beaten to death, but thanks to the appealing mellow R&B loop and Kon’s smooth voice it’s a pleasure to walk down nostalgia lane with him. And if you though that was mellow wait until you peep “Day Dreaming,” a track that will make you want to lay up on the porch drinking lemonade even in the dead of winter. This collaboration needs to continue.