BDAMAN "I, BDAMAN" ALBUM REVIEW

If I were to describe the sound of “I, BDaMan” with one word, it would be “classic.” The Minneapolis emcee who is also one half of the duo S.O.S. (Speed of Sound) released this solo project on November 30th. BDaMan stays true to the classic feel of the essence of Hip-Hop while dipping his toes outside of the conventional ways of the genre. Aside from the help of Monopolejoe and Sayjak with some mixing and mastering and one instrumental on the album, BDaMan produced the whole project as well as blessing the mic. Which, these days, grants instant respect from me and the rest of the community.
The start of the album begins with Serene promptly telling BDaman, “Wake yo ass up.” In response, the first track “Alive” wakes up the project and gets it moving with heavy strings and hard hitting drums. BDa comes in as hard as the beat does and gives advice that every emcee should take into account, “It ain’t where you’re from, it’s where you’re at.”
The second track, “Cool Cut Chillin’” is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The mix of samples chopped together creates a happy vibe with a catchy hook that everybody can sing along with. This track also has one of my favorite bars on the album, “Momma always said ‘common sense ain’t so common’.”
The third track “Will Smith” presents a big middle finger to what the “New School” is stereotyped as. The voice talking to BDa at the start of the track saying, “Take it back. Take it way way back. Like 5 cents for gas and chivalry was prosperous.” BDa comes in with a beat that is nostalgic of a 2000’s “pump it up” beat. BDa makes a statement on this track; a statement that none better said than him, “My style is unorthodox/ don’t place me in no box/ this school, that school/ I break all the locks.”
BDa keeps momentum with the heavy-head-bobbing track “People” to the two track vignette of “Riposte” and “Story of the Lone Wolf” which holds a little western-like flavor. However, the track “Distance Kills” is the change-up of the album. This song revolves around distance from loved ones or significant others, especially with the irony of phones, which could be to blame for the distance between you and someone you love or care about. This song is one of my favorites on the album as it presents the dichotomy of that: our phones connect us to many people, but can also make us disconnected from the people we want to be close to. Bda said it best in the track, “Our differences cause distances.”
Bda comes with a variety of different sounds for the last quarter of the album, from the sunny California vibes of “Time Flies,” to the heavy rock influenced track “Gone,” to the hard hitting personal retrospect of Bda’s past in “Yesterday’s Thrill,” which holds one of my favorite hooks, “Yesterday’s thrill is tomorrows new drive/ Yesterday’s thrill is the strive to survive.”
The last track “War” explains the song to a tee. Calling out wack social media rappers. This song is declaring a war against those rappers and critics that don’t know what they’re talking about. Bda comes hard on his last track to close out this classic-but-out of the box project, giving us a solid all around body of work to round out this great year for the local hip-hop scene.

(Melodic Noise) Name?
(BDaMan) Bryce Foster

(MN) Members?
(BDa) For this Album is just me “BDaMan.” Me and my older step brother, B. Allen, We go by S.O.S. (Speed of Sound)

(MN) Genre?
(BDa) Hip- Hop. I try to keep the old school mentality of lyrics and story telling, while also staying current with the times.

(MN) Origin Story?
(BDa) We started rapping in 2004. We were downloading beats off of Limewire. A lot of Dipset instrumentals, East Coast instrumentals. So I started in middle school. I was rapping with a couple homies of mine. I went to middle school with Major the General (Major G.) and few other buddies of mine. I saw them rap, and was like, “Damn I want to try this out.”

(MN) Label?
(BDa) Not really a label, but it’s like a team. Us 4: Alex with the artwork (For “I, BDaMan) Jeff: with the videos and photos. And my older brother (B. Allen) and I doing the rapping. Just a team of us putting our best foot forward.

(MN) Album Name?
(BDa) “I, BDaMan.” Last year I was watching the movie “I, Tonya” I got inspired by that because if they pull off that kind of title, I can try that too. *Laughs*

(MN( Favorite Track on the album?
(BD) I have to go with Will Smith. I did the best I could with blending the old school/ new school. I just want people to know, “Hey, you think I can do only one style, but my style is unorthodox.”

(MN) What lyrically stands out on the album?
(BDa) I feel more confident in addressing topics I strayed away from before. Like being more vulnerable about my personal life. Being more secure and showing that I’m progressing in life and how there’s still a lot of work to be done. On this Album I really honed in on my confidence, annunciating, and subject matter. Those are the three things I wanted to focus on for this Album.

(MN) Inspiration behind the Album?
(BDa) It was originally going to be a 5-6 track EP. But my best friend, Cory from Florida, was inspiring me to make it a little bit longer and make it feel like an album. And something I can call my own. I made the beats so it’s something I can be proud of and spread around. I wanted something to plant my flag and say “BDaMan is officially here.”

(MN) What do you want fans to take away from the album?
(BDa) Not just “BDaMan is officially here” but also being labeled as “old school” does not matter in terms of being a dope artist. In an industry that continues to move forward and a sound that shifts on a daily basis. I want people to take away that even though the music is straying away from its roots, it perfectly fine to be considered “old school” or “lyrical.”

(MN) Is there something that connects the songs together?
(BDa) I’d say it’s a novel within a bigger novel. A sliver of what I’m going through in a sense. It reminds of what Mono was inspiring me to put in the bio about the album. It relates to each project I’ve put out. It adds to the overall story of “BDaMan.” In terms of this album it does going in order. It follows a story when you listen to the lyrics.

(MN) Are you a local or transplant?
(BDa) Southside Minneapolis

(MN) What are your influences and MN influences?
(BDa) Inside Minnesota: Carnage the Executioner. He’s been a pretty big influence this decade. Him and Desdamona stopped into my high school poetry class. CMJ, in a way, has influenced me since I’ve been going to the Fifth Element open mics. In terms of performing on stage: Seeing him have that intensity, but not going crazy on stage influenced how I perform on stage now. Mike Dreams, back when he was “Young Son” in ‘08-’09 was a pretty big influence in terms of style. Out of State: Jay-Z my favorite rapper. Biggie, KRS- One, Public Enemy, a little DMX. I’ve been bumping the hell out of Westside Connection the past few years too.

(MN) Favorite TC artists?
(BDa) Oh, that’s tough…
(Jeff) Be careful
*all laughs*
(BDa) It’s tough not to be bias with it, but I gotta go with the homie MonoPoleJoe. He’s a very big influence of mine. I’ve known him the whole decade since he moved here from Chicago. We went to IPR with some buddies of mine. He’s had a big hand in my career. And the dude’s just super talented. He’s a big influence and a big favorite of mine.

(MN) Favorite venue to play at?
(BDa) Before it closed down, Triple Rock. Currently, Honey is pretty dope. The vibes are always dope. Part Wolf, formally known as the Nomad. Club underground is pretty high on that list to.

(MN) Fans expectations at a show?
(BDa) Crowd participation, high energy. I want the crowd to get into that energy with us.

(MN) Crazy Show moment?
(BDa) B. Allen and I were doing the Noise Complaint Show with the Free Lunch Crew. This was when Honey still had some carpet on the stage. And I didn’t notice. I was trying to dance or some shit, and I tripped and almost went flying to the back wall. I think there’s photographic proof of that somewhere. But The Free Lunch Crew don’t have it anymore out of respect for me *laughs*

(MN) Dream tourmates?
(BDa) Of course I gotta bring the manager, Jeff, the big bro B. Allen, MonoPoleJoe, our homie Alex that does graphics, the homie Break neck, probably CMJ as well.

(MN) Hobbies?
(BDa) I’m a big fan of pro wrestling. That’s how I got my rap name, watching Ric Flair shit.

(MN) What do you like about the Twin Cities?
(BDa) Aside from the fact that I’ve been here my whole life and I’m familiar with the city, it’s very hard to beat the scenery especially when it’s nice outside.

(MN) Favorite Place to grab food/drink?
(BDa) Just off the top: Ted Cooks over on 38th, Carbone’s Pizza, A&J’s for fish, Hook’s over there on Lake St.

(MN) Day Jobs?
(BDa) I work two part time jobs. The first one is how I met Jeff. We work at this Place called Field Work, they do paid focus groups and we’re phone call recruiters. I also work at the box office at the Target Center

(MN) Future Plans?
(BDa) I’m going to focus on the Madban side of things (producing.) B. Allen is trying to get some stuff off the ground, so make some beats for him. Make some more beats for a potential S.O.S. project. Trying to do some remixes here and there, and whatever the boss man wants me to roll out I guess. *points to Jeff and laughs*

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Review and Interview by: Paul Thorson
Edited by Andrew Perrizo