Album Review: Gone Wallace - The Dock Ellis (EP)

In the past we've covered Gone Wallace and his projects Highway 35 and Cult Classic. If you're unfamiliar with Wallace then he's a young rapper from Philadelphia, PA. He's got several projects under his belt besides Highway 35 and Cult Classic Two of the most recent are Haven, and Monks Too. Today we're going to take a look at his most recent project titled The Dock Ellis (EP). 

While the name Dock Ellis may be familiar due to the black baseball player who threw a no hitter while high on LSD, lead the fight to earn free agency and forwarded the rights of black baseball players, that's not where the album title comes from. Instead it's something much simpler and pure. The album is named after a gift that Wallace received from his mother when he was a child.

The EP is just 7 short tracks and admittedly I was a little hesitant going in. Unfairly it wasn't because of the work that Wallace has created. It was based on other artist we had reviewed sending us music that sounds just like Future or Migos and ignores their previous work. I usually end up just not wanting to do a review because I know I'll just rip them to shreds. I prejudged, and when I clicked play I was just glad Wallace had stuck to his roots. It's not music inspired by new trends, it's Wallace through and through. Someone blazing his own trail in music and not trying to ride the wave. It was actually refreshing after a lot of the music we get here. 

There's a kind of duality in Wallace's music that's always been present. There's a mixture of slow and quick flows, there are braggadocios raps as well as raps about love and life. It's a nice contrast that isn't always present in short projects. There's no overall theme of the album but for a short project like this it isn't really necessary. 

The one track I really dislike is "GXNE Explains It All / Swimmin." It's not even the whole track I dislike. It's split in two and the second half is "Swimmin." Lyrically the track is fine, the flow is fine. It's the fact that he's spitting over a sample that's still got vocals from the original artist. Things can get jumbled at parts when they overlap and it just because a mess of a track. My favorite track on the EP is "4 Tha Geeks." My favorite part of the track is that it isn't just a "woe is me, I was a geek," track because that narrative is really played out. It's a celebration of being a geek and that's a nice switch.

• Lyricism- 8
• Flow- 9
• Production- 6
• Theme- N/A
• Replayability-8
• Individuality- 9
  

The Dock Ellis (EP) comes to a solid 8/10. It's worth the time to check it out. Even if you don't love every track you'll likely find something that you'll enjoy. It's a project with no features and a lot of different producers so the style varies. It's 7 short tracks so there really isn't a reason you shouldn't check it out. 

The Dock Ellis (EP)

  

Artist Twitter: @GoneWallace

Website: gonewallace.tumblr.com/
 
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
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