Review By: Marissa J Lonardo AKA MJ

Artist: Patriarch
Genre: Hip-Hop
Album Title: Son of a Refugee

Artists Stats: Born in San Francisco and raised in the East Bay, Hayward section of California. Patriarch may be the first rapper of Palestinian descent to take his skills to this level and his homeland clearly plays an important part in his MC career. Patriarch has worked or performed with artists such as Immortal Technique, The Dogg Pound, Dead Prez, Akon, D12, Obie Trice and Tyrese, to name a few. Patriarch has also traveled across the world to perform and says with his determination he will change the world through his art

Album Assessment:
First of all, this 20 track album is filled with many mixed messages. Instead of gracefully moving through tracks, the album is like a freight train moving between the many politically charged tracks and then into many uneven commercial missteps. The vibe of the album is somewhat hard to bare because the beats are in a sense; below par and also because of Patriarch seems to be overly trying to be militant. "Crunk Revolution” is an ok track that sounds crunk but a with a mixed message. The song “Don't Let ‘Em" is one of many that criticize the government and can come off a bit taboo just as the politically charged "Gangsta & Politiks” in which Kurupt is featured but he’s on top of his game. “Aywah" is the one track geared towards the ladies but not all ladies, Patriarch specifically raps to only Arabic women.

And that’s pretty much the theme of the album. But the best song on the whole CD is an ode to his deceased grandmother, called "Never Leave Me Alone" a great track, which kind of makes you believe that although the album isn’t great, this MC does have potential. The biggest struggle of the album is the understanding; I mean you get the feeling that there’s an already made assumption that we are supposed to know about what is going on in Palestine. I mean I know pretty much what is going on because I took a keen interest in social studies, but frankly most people will not have a clue, and that’s not a good thing. You do get a sense that Patriarch does have mad love for his homeland, but the whole debacle is pretty much a mystery. I wish he could easily solve the problem by letting us know what exactly we are supporting and why. But look at the bright side, the CD does come with a free plastic bracelet, holla.