Gene Noble was featured on Emilio Rojas’ “The Cost” and now he offers his version of the song. Rojas’ version focused on relationship dynamics but Noble takes it even deeper and sings about the expense of things we want in life. Noble elaborated in a press release,

“Nothing in life is free. Everything has a cost. At times that cost is too high or too unknown and we’re left to figure it out. This song is a reflection of the toll that cost can take on a person. “I don’t trust like I used to, love like I used to, trip like I used to, they just wanna use you and that’s what I’m used to… it costs too much! And the price goes up! The high cost of fame… the high cost of dreams… the high cost of love, friendships and relationships…. it can be a bit heavy to consider and yet as social beings, interaction is necessary. All of our desires are reachable as long as we are willing to pay “The Cost.”

Noble’s vocals stretch with the pressure of the song’s message about taking emotional responsibility for human desires. Illmind produced Noble’s cover and takes the strong topic and gives it a heavenly sound to mitigate the stressful sentiment.

 

A little after one year since releasing ‘The Salvation,’ Skyzoo returns with a new album entitled ‘Live From The Tape Deck,’ entirely produced by !llmind. Skyzoo, of Brooklyn, NY, has spent the last year promoting & touring off ‘The Salvation,’ completing separate nationwide tours with Ghostface Killah & Raekwon. His music has been featured in ESPN programming and most recently in an episode from the current season of Entourage.

‘Live From The Tape Deck’ is the perfect follow-up record for Skyzoo fans who are anxious for new material. Skyzoo says his goal while recording the album was ” to make something that felt like a 2010 cassette tape. I wanted the content to be raw and lyric driven as always, but not as story driven or emotional as ‘The Salvation’
was. There are still parts of the album that are stories and concepts, but not as much as my debut had. This one was more of a beats and rhymes type of album.”

!llmind brings true validity as the sole producer for the album and helps provide a consistent sound throughout the project. !llmind is a sought after producer who has upcoming beat placements in albums such as Jared Evan (Interscope/Zone 4), Redman (Def Jam), Drunken Tiger & Yoonmirae (two multi-platinum artists from Korea) and more. !llmind is also being used in a publicity campaign by Akademiks where his photos will be placed in print ads across major Entertainment publications.

!llmind took a custom approach to the production for the album based on the concept of “Live From The Tape Deck,” explaining that he “wanted to keep the soundscape warm and ‘analog’ sounding, just like how 2 inch tapes used to sound. Most of the keyboard and synth sounds I used were from analog synths made in the late 80’s. Combined this with using my ASR-10, I was able to capture that feeling, but with a slightly updated feel. I think our debut record, ‘Frisbees’ was a cool way, sonically, to introduce the sound I was going for.”

Skyzoo & !llmind secured features from artists that matched the ‘Live From The Tape Deck’ concept. Skyzoo goes further saying, “I went to who I felt made sense for the records I put them on. For instance, when fans hear the track, “the burn notice”, they’ll agree that the beat, being chaotic and loud, had Heltah Skeltah written all over it.”

Fans can watch the music video for “Frisbees” here:
[youtube]m1D3qGHx-PU[/youtube]

A music video is currently in production for the lead track off the album, entitled “Speakers on Blast,” which will premiere shortly.

‘Live From The Tape’ is in stores October 5th on Duck Down Music Inc.

Track Listing:
1) Digital Analog
2) Frisbees
3) The Burn Notice (feat. Sean Price & Rock of Heltah Skeltah)
4) Speakers On Blast
5) #Allabouthat
6) Barrel Brothers (feat. Torae)
7) The Winner’s Circle
8) Krylon
9) Kitchen Table
10) The Now Or Never (feat. Styles P. & Buckshot)
11) Understanding Riley (feat. Rhymefest)
12) Langston’s Pen