About Kayode Kendall
Location: Oxon Hill, Maryland
Occupation: Writer
Bio: Kayode "KenKRK" Kendall has written for various websites over the last six years, and now serves as PopSyndicate's music editor.
Posts: 42
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The combination of hip-hop and jazz is nothing new, but I’ve rarely heard it the way it’s done on Lost and Found. Jazz musician Matt Grason came up with the idea of forming the Motel Project back in 2006, having met several freestyle rap artists based in Washington, DC. The result is an inspired blend of spoken-word/rap, New York jazz, funk and rock.
Opening with “Please Sign In (A Freeunion)”, Grason creates the perfect atmosphere with his freewheeling strumming of acoustic bass, coupled with a collection of poets/MCs performing freestyle rhymes. It’s so simple and organic, and transports listeners into a dark and smoky juke joint. Usually, fusing jazz and hip-hop means re-interpreting the actual music to fit into a hip-hop context, whereas Grason and the musicians he’s assembled set out to prove that the two genres can co-exist without having to shape one to mesh with the other. If anything, they often seem to complement each other. “The Sorcerer” finds lyricist Priest Da Nomad rhyming with such fast-paced delivery, it’s almost as if his voice is as much an instrument as the saxophone or the piano. There’s a feeling of “on-the-spot” creativity from everyone involved, that you can never tell where Lost and Found is going to go next. The psychedelic rock vibe of the instrumental track “Turned Times”, for example, comes out of nowhere, showcasing trippy guitar riffs.
Other tracks on the album feel slightly more structured, including “Nearly Departed”. More in the vein of spoken word poetry, Cool Cee Brown rhymes about the loss of loved ones and ponders the existence of a higher being, with slow and thundering piano keys working to match the emotions of the lyrical content and delivery. Pain and melancholy eventually turns to anger and rage by the end of the seven-minute opus. On “Motel”, lyricist Yu weaves a variety of seedy tales about prostitutes and accidental teen pregnancy revolving around a motel on the wrong side of town.
All things considered, Lost and Found is as successful a collaborative effort as it could possibly be, exceeding my expectations. The combination of richly layered jazz music and unpredictable, though-provoking lyricism is immensely satisfying, and a testament to the creativity of all those involved. Very intimate and personal, Lost and Found genuinely wants to connect with listeners and create a very evocative experience.
