Tag: Point 5ve

Death Row Records – “The Vent” review

Beverly Hills, California label Death Row Records in founded by Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C., Dick Griffey & Harry-O compiling a new 5 track extended play. A dominant force in the sunshine state during the early & mid 90s, the label began to decline due to Dre departing for starting up Aftermath Entertainment in addition to Master P signing WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg to No Limit Records & of course 2Pac’s murder currently investigating to see if disgraced Bad Boy Entertainment founder Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy was involved in. Snoop would buy Tha Row from MNRK Music Group the week of his Super Bowl LVI halftime show performance & has cleaned the label up by reviving it from the gamma. distribution deal to signing O.G.s like Tha Dogg Pound & Danny Boy or newcomers such as Merkules & D Smoke. The Vent however looks to showcase some of the R&B talent they’ve been developing.

“Together” by Charlie Bereal kicks things off with this soulfully jazzy intro navigating life with his lover whereas the self-produced “Come Up to My Room” by Tha Engineers finds the duo looking to get down to business with their partners. “Story of My Mistakes” by Flinstone featuring Lisa Santa Cruz links up for a duet themed around heartbreak & after the self-explanatory “Don’t Be Afraid of Love” by Jenn Em brings the funk, “Finish Line” by Point 5ve formerly known as Lil’ ½ Dead produced by Snoop Dogg ends the EP singing about a relationship that ran it’s course

Snoop himself said a little while ago that he’s been focusing more on R&B/pop acts which isn’t anything entirely new considering Michel’le’s 2nd & final album Hung Jury as well as Danny Boy’s full-length studio debut It’s About Time primarily produced by DJ Quik were both released under Death Row Records, but The Vent accompanies a short film released a week earlier on YouTube giving a glimpse of this next generation of artists in those respective styles whether it’s familiar names like Charlie Bereal & point 5ve or newcomers such as Tha Engineers & Jenn Em who have yet to put out a full-length debut of their own.

Score: 3.5/5

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Point 5ve – “Take a Look at Me Now” review

Point 5ve formerly known as Lil’ ½ Dead is a 51 year old singer/songwriter & former rapper from Los Angeles, California who dropped his full-length debut The Dead Has Arisen & the sophomore effort Steel on a Mission under Priority Records back in the mid-90s. He returned in 2012 for his 3rd album Dead Serious to generally more mixed reception compared to his major label output & over a decade later, WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg has signed him to Death Row Records distributed by gamma. to reinvent himself for a new extended play stylistically departing from the g-funk sound in favor of an R&B direction.

“Grown Man Business” featuring October London on the remix finds the pair singing about maturity while the funky “Unseen Life” produced by Uncle Snoop explains half of his life is nothing more than a film to him. The title track ends the 1st half singing about not being the same as he was while “Now or Never” encourages to wing it & not look back. “Finish Line” describes a relationship falling apart & “Keep It Warm” featuring Kanobby finishes with a duet about companionship. 

Dead Serious came out back when I was in high school & regardless of that still not holding up compared to Point 5ve’s earlier material back in the day, Take a Look at Me Now marks a welcoming celebration of this new era in his career. The production’s obviously much smoother than his earlier material & I’m sure some will find themselves disappointed with the lack of rapping on here, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear how well he could sing.

Score: 3.5/5

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