Every rapper deserves to find that producer who complements his style; a Premo to his Guru, Dr. Dre to his Snoop Dogg, or, in this case, Equilibrium to his Intuition. Cleverness aside, because that worked out far too well, Intuition’s album Stories About Nothing succeeds due to a kindred relationship between the producer and the emcee.
Intuition is not flashy; he will not dazzle you with his wordplay or riddle you with complexity. His strength is crafting 16 bar stories, trapping the listener in a confrontational situation or daily experience with poignant details. Likewise, Equilibrium makes Intuition’s written world jump off the page with the soundtracks he places beneath these stories. To that end, Stories About Nothingis consistently soulful, jazzy and an all around fun listen. On “Bye Bye Baby”, Intuition recognizes his experience gained is a loss of innocence, but takes it all in stride over a thumpy bass and some celebratory horns, while “Head in the Clouds” has the Sesame Street vibe of a carefree dreamer’s daily lawn loitering.
Whether Intuition is putting the listener through good times or bad, Equilibrium has the sound that takes us there. That kind of complementary vibe is not easily found, nor worth passing up.
