When the producer says more through his music than the artist through his words. That would be Ibgeezee’s honest-to-God pitch. But it is not. The guy stays humble and sticks to composing. You would mostly discover him through social media and the sick visuals he accompanies his beats with. He’s got that marketing intuition: artsy vibes, aesthetically pleasing cover artworks, very few posts of his actual self, and ridiculously good music. Thus us breaking down today his freshest release, Hustler’s Ambition. Ibgeezee summoned the grind, the excellency, and the triumphant sounds of Hip Hop under supreme technical mastery on this 3-record EP.
1. Tell Me Nothing
The initial echoey, airy piano notes imply some secrecy behind the appearance. There is no way this would be a simplistic instrumentation given the cover artwork (you will soon see how the visuals Ibgeezee is using, tie in with his music and have a gargantuan power in selling his product). And at 11 seconds in we get that low, hot saxophone sound accompanied by a curt, sampled ad-lib. Eesh! Dabbing into organics already? The one ingredient for standing the test of time.
At 20 seconds we hear his producer stamp, “Ibgeezee”, and mind you, it sounds hella good. Think of Mike Will Made It on a higher, sexier tone. 4 more seconds in, and the drums kick in! That same piano from the intro stays subtle in the background giving a playful reinforcement to the overall vibe. The sax and the bass though… those two turn out to be the key characteristic of Tell Me Nothing. The bass serves as a mystical, hardcore factor that reminds you this is a Hip Hop producer. The sax beautifully pushes through all other instruments and even when placed in the distance, still steals the show.
This much intricacy and yet… the story to how Ibgeezee arrived at this level of production is rather a very simple, endearing one: “When I first started out, I just wanted eight to ten songs to smoke to. Now, a hundred and forty beats later and another hundred produced songs, I actually want to keep developing both my engineering and production skills.” Talk about appetite coming with eating.
At 2 minutes and 55 seconds, we get a super high pitched flute-like synth that hints of modern rap. This flute takes the lead for a moment and serves almost like a prelude to the second part of Tell Me Nothing. It only makes sense as the song lasts an entire 5 minutes.
Tell Me Nothing would be the perfect match for a Rap artist with expensive taste. Whoever is going to spit on this beat has the responsibility to do justice to it as no rookies are allowed at the table.
2. Living & Dying
Living & Dying, the second instrumental off Hustlers’s Ambition, is of equally comparable grandeur to Tell Me Nothing. Whereas we had the sax shine and lead, now we get its sister, the trumpet. And some suave guitar on the intro. It is such a heavy, steamy, almost tropical composition that reverberates uniqueness and originality.
The obvious idiophone combined with the electric guitar gives off more feminine vibes to Living & Dying. At 19 seconds we get the assertive trumpet blows with the rich and thrilling drums. And of course, the guy loves his bass. The instrumentation trifecta delights on the edge of emotion. You could almost hear them saying “you can’t f*ck with us.” Ibgeezee is an exceedingly expressive producer. And he doesn’t even overload his beats. By some miracle, the Hip Hop producer found a way to make his music talk using limited space on the track. You can still put a voice on top and have it sound radio-ready.
Another remarkable, essential element in Living & Dying are those chorus-like ad-libs. You can observe them clearly around 0:44, 0:46, 01:02, 01:06, and further down the song as well. This acoustic injection of multiple back voices ignites spontaneity and larger-than-life feelings into the record.
By 3 minutes and 45 seconds, it’s clear that the unquestionable X factor present throughout Ibgeezee’s tracks is anchored in this pairing of modern production techniques with organic instruments.
3. Hustler’s Ambition
When you know it, you know it. The 3rd and last instrumental that also carries the title of the project, Hustler’s Ambition, is THE ONE. While it starts out with two overlayed guitars that seem more emo than a Billie Eilish song, it quickly grows into a severe statement. Right at 21 seconds, the beast is awakened. The imposing presence of the ever-so-shining bass is medicine to the ear. If you’re a music aficionado, you know that in the past decade the poor bass has had a lot to suffer. If in the ’90s the bass was key in determining the success of a record, it then became the big monster everyone was steering clear of. In the past few years, it almost vanished from radio hits. Barely now, in 2021, thanks to the likes of Ibgeezee and other independent artists, this instrument is being shown love again. And we’re here for it!
As the song proceeds to delight the audience, we get introduced to the flute! The flute is the strongest element on Hustler’s Ambition that counterbalances the gravitas of the other instruments. It lightens up the doleful emphasis comprised by the dominant minor notes. Smooth!
So how does Ibgeezee get inspired to pull off such masterpieces? “I don’t start beats with any specific ideas or direction. I just know I want to make a track that I would be jealous of if that sound came from another producer. I try to make them “Weird” but with enough “Swag” they still sound cool,” shares Ibgeezee exclusively for Blue Rhymez Entertainment. We gotta admit, if at least every fifth artist had this ideology when writing songs, we would be blessed with a lot more substantial music.
All in all, Hustler’s Ambition is a Hip Hop Ep that overdelivers in all aspects. It implants appreciation for the cultural value of this genre through its extensive use of thick bass lines and organic instrumentation. Ibgeezee, you are one to watch!
EP Credits: Gabriel Zecchino (Ibgeezee) – Producer, Sound Engineer.
Make sure you treat yourself by adding Hustler’s Ambition to your playlists on YouTube Music HERE, on Amazon Music HERE, on Apple Music HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2021
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 