Goff's Pick of the Week-Gonjasufi, A Sufi and a Killer

Gonjasufi-A Sufi and a Killer

What makes Gonjasufi’s first full length album good is easy to see. Its strong hip-hop beats, and vocals combined with psychedelic eastern inspired guitar tacks (think Paint it Black) and a damn good bassist make for one hell of an interesting mix. But to stop there would be a crime; there is so much more to the album as a whole which could easily be missed listening to only a track or two. Sumach Ecks (aka Gonjasufi) sets the perfect atmosphere with his words and music. The lyrics jump between the African savannah, the wild west, and the urban jungle without missing a single beat. Putting mystical eastern inspired tracks right next to modern songs about the troubles of living in the modern age, both of which contain elements psychedelic and hip-hop, adds a certain perspective to the songs which is purely creative in the sense that it is entirely new, never been done before.

While all of the tracks on the album are strong, one in particular stands out as my favorite, and that is the fourth track Sheep. The track splits into two parts, the first a daydream of a remorseful would-be vegetarian lion who wishes only to be a sheep and not have to eat living things, and the other is a marching tirade of the same lion as he is out on the hunt. While the concept is interesting enough, the really impressive part of the track is the music. The daydream portion consists of what can best be described as lullaby-ish; hip-hop driven but at the same time reminiscent of fifties pop. The second half consists of a driving bongo beat. Overall the track reminds me of William Blake’s poems The Lamb and The Tyger of which im a fan. Interestingly enough, this is not the only thing about the album that reminds me of Blake, several of tracks use archaic spellings for words such as the tracks Klowds and Kobwebz.

There is one more thing about this album that would be a sin not to mention; the vocals. Ecks isn’t a good singer in that he has a great range, but he is a great singer in the sense that no one else could ever even attempt to recreate these songs like he has done here. The unique voice apparently comes from his day job of teaching yoga (which really shouldn’t come as a surprise); deep projection from his stomach helped develop his voice. His presentation is brand new at times, strangely odd at others, but consistently beautiful, the perfect definition of what music should be. It is  something unique and personal that every single person on earth can relate to.