Mixtape: Your Highness
Artist: Space Bound
Release: Oct 1, 2012
Originating from Des Moines Iowa, Kaleem and Apollo come together to create Space Bound, a futuristic duo whose fusions of Hip-Hop and R&B blend beautifully with their futuristic beats. Since their recent success of To the Moon and Back that dropped earlier this summer, huge opportunities have indeed been thrown their way for them to bring us a more sophisticated level of music like Your Highness. Hosted by Haris Amilli, Space Bound’s 15 track project has originality that reaches far beyond the nature of their dope, electronic, bass-heavy beats.
The track “Free” sets up the mood for this project, with merging the hip-hop genre with the current sampling fixation that so many underground DJ’s employ these days. Apollo sings about finally reaching your dreams and not letting anything hold you back. “I been through the worst, I been let down/Tasted the dirt, I know the ground/ the one that made it was me/The one that changed was me/ I lived though the hurt pound for pound/ Did all the work, found it out/ the one that made it was me /The one that changed was me…..”
“Inhale” presents an unforgettable yet sincere confessional from the crooner in which he reveals his lust for a significant other as they get high and intoxicated. Kaleem adds to the mystique when he spits “ I inhale, exhale babygirl that’s sex-hales/ I ain’t had enough, we can catch planes like red tails/ got codeine in my cup, I ain’t never holdin’ my tongue/imma show ‘em all wassup while we blow all these blunts…”.
“Strangers” is by-far a subject of content that has been narrowed to “drugged up, sex music” when in reality, it’s the portrayal of a man deeply affected by love and is now merely out for a good time. “ Blunts rolled, tits out/ watch it go up in smoke/girl loves to boast, she left him on another not/she just right here tryin’ to get herself a double dose/ A double dose of the captain/ Knowing way back no one would a backed him/now that’s cold: Nat King/ watch us walk back, lookin back like that’s then…”
Now Your Highness takes a turn for the trill with “She Right” that features D. Carlone. Sick production partnered with lyrics about finding that one baddie that everyone wants and he knows that he can get her. “ I’m so ahead of you niggas/I got the mind of a jedi/Meet a bad bitch on Facebook/ message he and take a red eye/ I pack a whole bunch of rubbers , cuz I’m hopin’ to fuck her/ I’m blowin’ on something and yea she blowin’ on something/ one of us puffin and only one of us suckin….”
Spacebound collaborated with Dan Cahill, who engineered the first nine tracks and concluded the general sound of Your Highness. Every region has its own style of hip hop and actually that also goes for Iowa. This album is completely unique-but unique in a good way. If this is what Iowa is bringing to the music scene then we definitely want more. The world will understand; music is what feeling sounds like. Do yourself a favor and cop Your Highness here.
– Courtney Deleon
