Dopestylevsky

Dopestylevsky is the second studio album by Jewish rapper Eprhyme, released on April 26, 2011 by K Records. It is notable as the label's first hip-hop album in a decade, as K Records is typically known for punk and indie rock. A video for the album's lead single, "Life Sentence", was funded by Kickstarter and released on November 7, 2011.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
PopMatters	^[2]
Tiny Mix Tapes	^[3]
Skyscraper	positive^[4]
The Forward	positive^[5]

Dopestylevsky received largely positive reviews. Jessica Monk of Tiny Mix Tapes called it "a solid album of consciousness-raising Jewish hip-hop, [although] not an exercise in genre-bending...we can believe the hype, and take it that this well-heeled genre has finally arrived chez K."^[3] John Book of Skyscraper magazine said, "Eprhyme is a nice breath of clarity that isn’t the exception to any specific rule, just hip-hop music at its best."^[4] Jay Michaelson of The Forward described it as "a more polished and more professional record" than his debut album, containing "less novelty, less preaching, but perhaps more potential to reach a wider audience with a Jewish flavor of hip-hop and rap."^[5]

In a negative review, Mike Schiller of PopMatters wrote, "Eprhyme demonstrates an impressive grasp of rhythm and rhyme, but his words are mere sounds that give us something to hold onto; they’re not meaningful, they’re not really about anything, they’re just there...Dopestylevsky is a perfectly pleasant hip-hop album that won’t get on anyone’s nerves [but not] the transcendental experience its author promises, nor does it even begin to live up to the literary figure referenced by its title."^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Grind Thoroughly"	3:25
2.	"Life Sentence"	4:03
3.	"Poppasong" (featuring Brad B and Foundation)	4:00
4.	"Blow Up the Block" (featuring DeScribe and Y-Love; prod. Electro Morocco)	4:04
5.	"Elements of Style" (featuring Labtekwon)	2:56
6.	"Smoke Break"	2:31
7.	"Let's Build" (featuring Compost)	3:32
8.	"Notes from the Underground"	4:22
9.	"Lose Your Cool" (featuring AKA)	4:21
10.	"Divine by Design" (featuring Saints of Everyday Failures)	3:33
11.	"Better in the Dark" (featuring Darshan)	4:24
Total length:		41:36

"Blow Up the Block" was previously released in single form by Shemspeed as "Boom Selecta", with an extra verse by Kosha Dillz.

Personnel

Smoke M2D6 – producer
Foundation – producer ("Poppasong")
AKA – featured artist
Brad B – featured artist
Skylar Blake – musician
Drew Cohen – vocals
Compost – featured artist
Darshan (Eprhyme and Shir Yaakov) – featured artist
DeScribe – featured artist
Glimpse – featured artist
Yosef Goldman – vocals
El Goonie – cut

Rolondo Guajardo – musician
Ardas Hassler – musician
Labtekwon – featured artist
Daniel Landin – musician
Tim Pollock – musician
Poweena – vocals
Tom Russell – musician
Jeff Rygwelski – musician
Saints of Everyday Failures (Eprhyme and D-Scribe) – featured artist
Xperience – featured artist
Y-Love – featured artist

References

↑ Chernikoff, Helen (August 23, 2011). "Kickstarting Jewish Culture?". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
1 2 Schiller, Mike (August 10, 2011). "Eprhyme: Dopestylevsky". PopMatters. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
1 2 Monk, Jessica. "Eprhyme - Dopestylevsky". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
1 2 Book, John (June 27, 2011). "Eprhyme - Dopestylevsky". Skyscraper. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
1 2 Michaelson, Jay (May 2, 2011). "Monday Music: Prime Time for Eprhyme". The Forward. Retrieved 1 September 2015.

External links

Dopestylevsky - Eprhyme at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2015.

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