A Mind Of My Own (Soulmate/Inertia)

The Scope: The less-known half of rap duo Forthwrite, Pez, drops his debut solo LP.

As one-half of Forthwrite Pez has always found himself in the shadow of 360. Rightly or wrongly while 360 was entering battles and being signed by one of the scene’s most respected labels in Unkut, Pez dwelled in the background and honed his skills. Releasing his debut on the label that brought us 360’s own earlier this year, Pez may have finally surpassed his friend in the minds of fans Australia wide. This release is good, real good; while each track is littered with multi-syllable rhyme patterns they also remain cohesive tracks on varied subject matter. While The Festival Song was always going to be a summer smash, as it recreates the Falls Festival experience, the remainder of this release shows some real depth. Rather than seek an array of beat makers, Pez has stuck with Matik throughout and the overall sound benefits from this cohesiveness. Also big is the live instrumentation on the beats; when coupled with the samples and some quality sung hooks you are left with a ‘big’ end result for Pez to rhyme over. Lyrically he tackles stuff as diverse as conspiracy theories to tributes to his mum, never wasting a track on a gimmick but still delivering some of his signature humour.

The Wrap: A really strong and well-thought out debut. In a year where the new wave are making a name, this stands out.

Shane Scott