doPE is a super duo consisting of Los Angeles, California musician, composer, writer and actor John Densmore and New York presenters, composers and producers Chuck D and Hempstead. The latter gained notoriety as the lead singer of the seminal political hip-hop group Public Enemy, and the other is the drummer of one of the most famous bands in rock music: The Doors. Both members announced their formation a few months ago and released their debut albums under SpitSLAM Records.
“Everytictictictic” opens with a funky rap rocker, with Chuck talking about ageism, sexism and racism getting in the way of people’s daily lives, while the title track discusses the elderly being a roof over the young. “Doomsay” returns to rap-rock with a gritty depiction of the end of the world, and after Etheridge Knight recites “The Bone of my Father,” we end the first half lovingly with “i love that i don’t love,” which talks about the relevance of The Rhyme Animal.
As for “people are strangers,” we at doPE recommend not trying to be friends with people if you only know them, and “Breakthrough” spends 115 seconds talking about the rise of technology in their lives. “ops3ssion” deftly blends Public Enemy’s politically charged lyrics with ’70s rock instrumentals, while “Everyone dies” provides one last important message for a younger generation of listeners, after reading Kamau Daáood’s “Djali II” and concluding that old people have no country.
doPE’s full-length studio debut was originally released as a Record Store Day exclusive last month before finally hitting streaming services a month later, and arguably joins the ranks of Radio Armagineddon and Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 in a country without an old man, as Chuck D has been on the music scene for the past 12 months. An impressive mix of spoken word, hip-hop, conscious hip-hop, dub, blues rock, rap rock, and funk rock, the production provides some social commentary that many need to hear.
Score: 8/10
