Search - Sole :: Learning to Walk

The Transition of Sole......

Brian Thomas Embry | Troy, AL USA | 05/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That would of been a better name for this outstanding album. As its mostly rarer tracks of his, that you wouldnt find unless you were his most devoted fan and went off across the net to find his various earlier recordings and b-sides. If you know soles style, you know he has not conformed to the standard ways of rhyming and refuses to speak in bar formats. He lets his mind go off into his lyrics, but..... somehow...... still manages to have it all flow so beautifully. Prosperity is the gem of the album personally speaking. If you want to hear Sole as the MC he was BEFORE his current style, there is no better example. He spits flames after flames upon a deep bangin beat, and you would never know it was a member of anticon spitting them, but more something off of illmatic. For the most part, the rest of the album is done in traditional sole format. 3rd person is pretty dope, about sole speaking on himself from a 3rd person. The second Respect track (theres 2 on here, one from 97 remixed by sample 208, and the one im talking about produced by dj shame in 96) is another instant classic track not to be overlooked. The track Sole is one of his earliest to date from 94, and it mystifies me how hes been around since that long, but just now coming into his own. Sole among the rest of his anticon bretheren were obviously ahead of their time. Heres the Tracklist for the album 1. prosperity, 2. 3rd person, 3. losers of the edge, 4. banquet of sarcasm, 5. 3 guys in a bar, 6. lyrically able, 7. the video game song, 8. mr bojangles, 9. respect, 10. finaly, 11. respect, 12. body of works, 13. down by lore, 14. live by the mic, 15. sole, 16. give me my medal. I recommend this album to anyone that likes Soles style, and loved his Bottle of Humans album. As far as beats, its about equivelant to BOH's, some are decent, while some are true bangers and sampled well. Lyrically, as always, light years beyond whats being played on the radios. If you like Aesop Rock, Deltron, Atmosphere, Slug, Dose-one, El-p (heh), any anticon, etc. cop this album."

Learning To Walk 1994-1998

Alan Pounds | Minneapolis, MN | 01/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I wish all of my favorite underground rappers would release an album like this. As you know, just about every artist that has "made it" has a collection of early recordings that will never see the light of day. But think about how long an underground rapper is stuck under everyone's radar. Often times, for the entirety of their early recording years. Subsequently, hip-hop heads miss out on the most raw moments of their career. "Learning To Walk" collects all of Sole's early singles, demos and experiments recorded from 1994-1998, including material from his first group, the Live Poets.



I am a big fan of the "early" Anticon records. Sole's "Bottle Of Humans" (1999), Alias' "The Other Side Of The Looking Glass" (2002), and Them "Them" (2000) are a few of my favorites. I really like the earlier Anticon releases because they are truly hip-hop based. A lot of their newer stuff, although intriguing, often times come off as pretentious. I sometimes feel they are trying a bit too hard to outsmart their mainstream counterparts (example: Dose One's "Ha!" [2005]). With that said, I couldn't be more happy about this release of solid pre-Anticon hip-hop anthems.



Sole's style on "Learning To Walk" is still in the works. His technique varies from track to track, and it still sounds different from his proper debut "Bottle Of Humans". The subject matter is much different, and on several songs, not as mature (a plus in my eyes). A good example would be one of my favorites, "Banquet of Sarcasm"; where Sole encourages listeners to dance as his flow bounces around the enthralling production. Or how about "The Video Game Song" featuring Alias (recorded in 1997). It's exciting to hear Sole rap about old-school Nintendo games like Contra with this lyric - "I got mad game like up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, select, start". That's another treat about this album - pre-Anticon collaborations. Check out "Lyrically Able" featuring Scribble Jam battle champ Adeem; truly tight.



Overall, this certainly isn't Sole's best collection of songs. But I would say it's just as an exciting to listen to if you are a Sole fan. You have to ask yourself a question first. Do you enjoy the feel of earlier Sole records like "Bottle Of Humans" over his newer stuff (example: "Selling Live Water")? If you like the early stuff, you should definitely pick up this gem."

A good beginning

Snow Flow | St. Cloud, MN | 01/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was Sole's first album(i belive) and it shows. So why 4 stars? Becuase Sole is an outstanding artist. This album isn't as "deep" as bottle of humans or selling live water, but it's still very good. There are a lot of good songs on this album, along with a few skippable tracks. This isn't something you bump in your car(though I guess you could, I just don' see why). If your not paying attention you'll never catch what he's saying. If your already a fan of Sole and don't have this, grab it for the collection. If your just getting into underground hip-hop, stick with something more digestable(atmosphere, brother ali), and if your brand new to hip-hop check out Sole's "Bottle of Humans" and "Selling Live Water" before you purchase this."