Search - Northern State :: Can I Keep This Pen?

Northern State
Can I Keep This Pen?
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rap & Hip-Hop, Rock

Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
1. Mic Tester
2. Better Already
3. Oooh Girl
4. Mother May I? (feat. Chuck Brody)
5. Away Away
6. Good Distance
7. iluvitwhenya
8. Sucka Mofo
9. Cold War
10. Run Off The Road
11. Things I'll Do
12. Cowboy Man
13. The Three Amigas (feat. Mr.Murray Hill)
14. Fall Apart (w/ Kaki King)

CD Details

All Artists: Northern State
Title: Can I Keep This Pen?
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Ipecac Recordings
Original Release Date: 1/1/2007
Re-Release Date: 8/28/2007
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rap & Hip-Hop, Rock
Style: Indie & Lo-Fi
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 689230009221

Synopsis

Album Description

"Can I Keep This Pen?" pushes the limits more than anything we've recorded before in terms of what a hip hop song might sound like, what a rock song might sound like, and what Northern State might sound like. The album includes songs about our friendship ("Better Already"), our president ("Cowboy Man"), the apathy that surrounds us ("Cold War"), as well as what may be the first Northern State love song ("Away Away"). Our classic old school hip hop sound runs through the album, weaving its way through a new electro-rock current.

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Member CD Reviews

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 7/28/2023...

Nope!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

CD Reviews

Seven out of ten, actually

Jason Harrington | www.myspace.com/mad_trucker | 10/25/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You can't stand these chicks, yeah, I get it. I'm sure they ARE probably "whack emcees." But at least they are not hyper-masculine stereotypes. I mean, it's perfectly OK to be thuggish and use broken English, but it's also OK to expose influences like Le Tigre, Fannypack, Peaches, Ladytron, Luscious Jackson & even the Beastie Boys. Yeah, I said it...and I'm fully aware how uncool it has suddenly become to mention anything from the Grand Royal era, but I for one miss Grand Royal, and that is exactly why this CD is such a blast of fresh air in my ears. Maybe you should just do some stretches to loosen up and relax before you listen to it."

Great stuff,greater people

clemtunes | western mass. | 11/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i had never heard of them before i saw the link on a tegan and sara show the my daughter and i were going to later in the month.while rap/hip hop is not my normal choice ,this cd is infectious,clever,funny,and not too cute...after spending some time with them(fixing there van)i found them to be great people as well,if you like rap etc buy this,if you don't buy it anyway because it is so much more....cheers"

These super-white chicks can rap!

Scott J. DuBar | Charlottesville, VA United States | 11/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Musically, I liked NS right away but it took awhile for me to aclimate myself to their style of rapping. Eventually the music won me over and I bought the cd. I know they hate being compared to the Beastie Boys, but I'd say they sound like a cross between them and the Go-Go's."

Best female hip hop artists

Nancy A. Nickle | 03/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These three women are probably the most talented hip hop artists out there right now. Their lyrics are incredible, and they write all their own stuff. The drum beats are really tight. They do everything on their own: set up their own stage, sell their own merch, get their own gigs. I am totally impressed by these talented women. Buy this CD, if you like women's group, and or hip hop music, you will not be disappointed at all. They are very underrated.

Nancy Nickle

Catz Go Round Records, LLC"

Excellent Hip-Hop from the Long Island Crew

Hype Currie | Detroit, Michigan United States | 02/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Can I Borrow This Pen?" is the third album from Long Island-based hip hop trio Northern State. Spero, Hesta Prynn and Sprout kick rhymes with a throwback 1980's style cadence, about the standard subjects of dissing sucker MCs who come their way, but they also kick game about romance and touch on social commentary from a woman's point of view.

The group is largely self-produced, though Beastie Boy King Ad-Rock contributes beats for two songs. The music is mainly heavy on beats and bass, with some rock guitars thrown in here and there; on a few songs the ladies do some straight-up singing, but here it makes sense instead of sounding out of place.

There is a shameful dearth of female performers in hip-hop, let alone female-centered groups in the genre. Northern State hold it down for Golden Age standards, when lady rappers didn't have to be gangster-chicks to get respect on the mic.

Unfortunately, "alternative rap" and most genre artists from the indie world tend to get zero airplay on urban radio; it would be wonderful if songs from this album were pushed on hip-hop radio, as more diversity (thematic, gender, and, yes, racial) in playlists is desperately needed."