It’s not often an independent artist comes across my desk with as much introspectively driven depth as that of Aphiah Cey-Jude, also known as Duals. Signed to the Growth of Culture label, Duals’ effort is described as the “duality of depravity and love that the concept of man is tied to.” As an artist, he strives to “paint a circle of the yin and yang” in an endeavor to enlighten listeners and aid them in discerning their own truths and insights.
Duals’ new tune is ‘Life is a Paradox,’ certainly an aptly titled tune from an artist who poetically contemplates so profoundly. The piece is a complex hip hop effort, one that will be best served by a quality sound system. The production is absolutely superb. Duals’ use of immensely creative beats, synthesizers, and composition is stunning. The basis of the hip hop beat is even a fingerpicked acoustic guitar – how neat is that?!
Duals is what you’d call… a very fast rapper. I had to listen to the track half a dozen times to fully discern it, and quite frankly, I’m probably still pretty far from that. To break it down, ‘Life is a Paradox’ covers a lot of ground – do our weaknesses turn into our strengths? Duals questions the current state of our society, revolutions, chaos, turmoil, and so on. “Everybody wants some truth,” Duals claims in an outcry akin to John Lennon belting out, “Gimme some truth.”
The production of the piece, as aforementioned, is instrumentally varied to an extreme. That’s absolutely wonderful, and benefits Duals 95% of the time. Toward the end of the song, however, sporadic brass pieces do drown out his vocals, as do the atmospheric synths that take priority over his vocals. A firmer mix would probably find Duals closer to the top of this musical cake, especially because he’s such a sly, quick-witted rapper.
You’ll find yourself listening to ‘Life is a Paradox’ many, many times. It’s one of the most profound independent efforts I’ve heard in a very long time, and it’s production is equally unmatched. Hell, my main critique was the mix sometimes overpowering Duals, which is oddly humorous, because both are so excellent, it’s hard to find harmony between one another at times. That’s not even really a critique at that point, just an observation of sensory overload of awesomeness. (Though in seriousness, Duals would do better with his vocals centered more clearly in the final mix.) Go check out this song now; it’s stellar.
By Brett Stewart
I’m a professional writer and editor, a journalism major, and I have extensive experience in musical review. I worked for two years as the Editor & Chief of an arts magazine, Strike Magazine, where I worked closely with writers and musicians. Through this, I was able to interact with dozens of acts including Heart, Holly Williams, Robert Cray, John Hiatt, and more. The magazine printed thousands of issues and was even recognized by Rolling Stone’s founder, Jann Wenner.
