Posted on February 11, 2010 - by Antoinette

REVIEW: TREAZON – Breathe Life 2

Evidently, Cleveland rapper TreaZon had some things he needed to get off his chest. The result is the mixtape- Breathe Life 2 (presented by IM King Clothing) the follow-up to the Mike Boogie presented Breathe Life.

Breathe Life 2 gets off to a good start. With solid production from Numonics, ID Labs and Oh!, the first few tracks combine smooth beats with notable vocals (“Discovery Zone” features a Shakira-like intro by Neija Jane) and introspective lyrics. Apparently, TreaZon is known for turning his life experiences and hardships into “real” musical content. That’s no diss- I’m just saying that’s his thing.

The problem is that somewhere in the middle of the mixtape, the 80′s-type synthesizers take over and it starts to sound like one really long song on the Miami Vice soundtrack. And not the Jamie Foxx/Collin Farrell movie- more like a Don Johnson/Phillip Michael Thomas episode where one of their girlfriends gets murdered by some pissed off Columbian…but I digress. Round about the same time, the lyrical content becomes more pouting than reflecting and the mood and cadence of TreaZon’s flow is more melancholy than thoughtful.

Thankfully, things pick back up again on “Ocean View”. Produced by jaylen!, the track showcases TreaZon’s skills and allows us to connect with him on a more personal level…”I aint never been the type that’ll bust guns/but my mind went on strike/had enough son/but I’m gone- my soul light flickers and every single thing that is gold don’t glitter…”

“Midnight Train” produced by Charlie Hilton uses an interesting organ sample that gives it an eerie feel, but provides a nice change of pace. “In the Horizon” is worth fast-forwarding to get to. It’s…relaxing. TreaZon skips the anger and just talks about being a loner and realizing he’s okay with it…”Gotta try to find me another life/to survive all the trials of the summer nights/and a lotta niggas hatin’ on my style/but my name’s in they mouth so I know I’m doin’ somethin’ right…”

It was a good idea to put the “Bonita Applebum” freestyle (featuring ThreatZ) close to the end. It lightens up the mood and reminds the listener that the sun really does come out tomorrow.

The overall feel of Breathe Life 2 is hard to pin down, but it’s obvious there’s some type of theme here that has to do with self-realization and growing up and leaving childish things behind. While TreaZon’s lyrical game could use a little work in terms of fluidity, tone and delivery, he manages to put together good songs that the everyday, working, struggling, just-trying-to-survive listener can relate to.

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