ARTIST: SAL DA SLEAZE
SOUNDCLOUD
Sal da Sleaze is a former LO$TBOY$YNDICATE member that recently hit me up to check out the Notorious Book of Sleaze EP, a four track offering portraying a life of struggle, hard work and dedication. ‘Close Your Eyes’ begins with the familiar pop rap motifs of echoey female vocals, but when Sal begins to rap the vibe immediately shifts toward a grittier hip-hop approach. Sal’s voice is eccentric and stands out massively against the plodding lo-fi production, his at times humorous approach to listing off his problems is a stark contrast from the actual content of the verses.
On ‘Workers Comp’, the rapper essentially describes being unemployed and the struggles that come with making it on minimal income. He is joined by The Notorious G.I.B, whose soulful tones make for a killer hook here and beautiful intro/outro vocals on ‘Who Knows’. On the latter song, Sal’s vocals are muted and hazy, as if his lyrics are intended to be ambiguous. What can be determined however is that the rapper has experienced his struggles with addiction and is attempting to relate it to his audience in a reasonably light-hearted way. This project definitely goes a long way towards giving us a true glimpse of Sal not only as an artist, but as an individual.
