Buff1: There’s Only One

The word “Underground” is tossed around the hip hop circuit all the time. To come to a clear cut definition of it is simply impossible. Underground can represent a sound, a fan base, a geographical location, anything, but we all know that good music is good music. Using the traditional meaning of “Underground” (the opposite of mainstream just to keep things simple), Buff1 has actually made a pretty successful name for himself. His debut album Pure got great critical acclaim and praise from reviewers everywhere. Through all this he has developed quite a loyal fan base and surely, they will be more than pleased with his sophomore solo effort, There’s Only One.

The Michigan emcee came from the Athletic Mic League and was recognized to be the spotlight emcee. He was always rather credible; the AML even dropped their album Jungle Gym Jungle on Barak Records, the same foundation that houses Slum Village and Phat Kat. The Detroit hip hop scene is an ever growing setting for emcees with immense amounts of talent, and Buff1 is a prime example of this. Does he, however, use all this potential to its fullest degree?

The entire album is produced by The Lab Techs with 14KT and Vaughan T (of TLT) taking a bulk of the load. However, the one stand out track simply by name is “Never Fall” due to the Black Milk feature. Black Milk continues to drop heat and head nodders like this cut, while Buff1 rides rather smooth on it. The beat seemingly over powers Buff though and you enter this strictly beat based listening with a kick ass chorus. “Goodness Music” provides a beautiful piano loop that is completely ruined by synths that had no place in a track of this nature. What potentially could’ve been the best beat on the album due its complex nature (that was being pulled off SO well) turns into a skippable track. Buff also delivers a second verse that completely eclipses the first verse: “With each sentence I display what’s missing/ They all frauds like women fixing their A-cups different/ See all this is God given/ They serving Kentucky Fried Chicken no processing what I’m spittin’”

“Dream Streets” once again runs into the problem of being too ‘electronical’ on the beat, but once again, Buff is very very good on it. I can’t give props to the singing feature on it though, that was tough to get by. “Rain Dance” starts off great; the drums hit extremely hard, although, the beat is ruined by the unnecessary additions that make it very hard to listen to. Buff gives great introspective lyrics and social commentary that provide an extremely vivid interpretation of the symbolic and metaphorical nature of a rain dance. “Classic Rap” is a dope homage to the good ol’ days. I especially loved the purple tape and Works of Mart references. It’s also positive to see Buff1 knowing where he came from in this hip hop game and giving respect to those that helped him get to where he is at now.

Buff shows flashes of brilliance more often than not on this album, but, he goes from a great track like “The Sky” to a very ‘huh’ track like “Man Up.” The beat development also provided to be a rather large negative because it seemed to try to be too much. The simplest beats proved to be best because it allowed Buff to skate on the track effortlessly. There’s Only One has trunk rattlers like “Turn the Speakers Up”, cruising tracks like “Goin’ Nowhere”, and relationship tracks like “Real Appeal.” This also proves to be another downfall of the album; it is all over the place. It clocks in over an hour, which is much too long. There is a lot of filler and while Buff is very good on just about every track, the vibe of the album drags in rhythm and reaches for content.

I urge people to keep an eye out for this artist because he is extremely talented and has a very bright solo career ahead of him. Buff needs to find a type of production that allows him to take over the track and not let the beat (good or bad) move him to the sidelines. He has plenty that he wants to say, that is evident in this album, however, to know one’s limit could be one’s greatest asset. With rumours of an album with DJ Rhettmatic (of the Beat Junkies) on the way, as well as another AML album in the works, Buff has plenty of opportunities to perfect his craft and deliver the goods. Keep rhymin’.

Overall Score: 72/100

Standout Tracks:

“Never Fall”

“Rain Dance”

“Classic Rap”

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