Ock Cousteau Advanced Copy of 'Nautical Audibles' Review

I had the pleasure of booking Ock Cousteau back in December along with Spose and Cam Groves. The pair is made up of emcees Mike Be and Jay Caron, who are also two-thirds of the Educated Advocates.

These guys had a ton of energy and brought out old school boom bap beats with signature 90s rap styles. In other words, it was exactly what I wanted to hear! These two do all of the hard work themselves, serving as their own DJ's, producers, and of course, artists.

During their most recent tour with Spose, The Yard Sale Tour, they were giving out a special advanced  copy of their upcoming album, Nautical Audibles, which were also specially marked out of 100 (I had number 49).

The first track, "All Season," was a great intro to the album and showcased just what they are about as they rap about grinding all year.

"Mortal Kombat" is the second track on the album, and their single. The song features witty boasts by the duo as well as showing the world that they "put it down." Watch it below.



"You Two" features a solo performance by Jay Caron. He goes off on the track dropping knowledge on sell outs and people who are looking for a "hand out." I love his flow and his narrative on the song. Everything about it is really solid.

Jay and Mike then go two bars for two bars on "Golden Harvest." Their voices compliment each other well regularly, but on this track with such tightly knit verses, the chemistry stands out. The isntrumental loop is quite nice as well.

"One For The..." is Mike Be's foray into a solo track, and he rips it as well. The best part of the song is the chorus from where the track gets it's name from.

"B.A. Baracus" opens up with a great sample from Mr. T. Even better is the sample to the beat, with nice guitar riffs, and then a roaring southern sounding little solo that gets worked in through out, and fully played at the end. The song reminds you of a full on bar room throw down and kind of takes you there.

Opening right into the chorus, "Ock Cousteau" is the self-titled anthem for the group. Again, good wordplay dominates this track, and has one of the better choruses of the release. Mike and Jay's chemistry as emcee's shines through on this song as they lay the lyrical pipe down.

All in all, Ock Cousteau's demo is a great look into what's coming for these two. If I could compare them to anyone, I'd dare to say a white Black Star, not so much because their lyrics are insane like a Mos Def and Kwelli, but because they are so confident, comfortable, and smooth over their beats. It's really refreshing to listen to, and they are great at what they do.

However, I have two problems with this record, it's too short! I must have more songs, and longer one's too. You'll burn through this album in 20 minutes with only seven tracks averaging just under 3:00 minutes. However, this is merely a complaint and not an actual problem. The fact of the matter is these guys can spit and are some dope lyricists. So stayed tuned for what's coming next!

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