It’s a tradition now for Spek to send me a link of his newest album missing a song. This time, with his new record, Doc Watson, he texts: “That version I sent was missing one track, but it’s there now… ‘Sinner Man’.” 

I go to his dropbox page again. Download the previously left out track.

Holy Sh!t!

My attempt to describe “Sinnerman” briefly: an operatic, deep-and-simultaneously-high-pitched voice sings, profoundly dramatic, “Oh, Sinnerman, where you gonna run to?” Then the beat drops like 2-story speakers onto a fresh-cut lawn. Sprinklers going, spewing musical accompaniment like fresh water. Have you seen that part in The 5^th Element when that blue alien-woman, The Diva, sings to a full house on a cruise spaceship? This song is like that. Perhaps even more interesting.

The rest of Spekulation’s Doc Watson album features a dozen instrumentals crafted by the hip-hop scientist (er, doctor). It’s true that Spek was kind enough to feature The Great Um, a band I play bass in, on the fourth track. So there’s that, too. But I would definitely be writing just as glowing a review of the album had he not (maybe even more so).

It’s also true that I’ve known Spek for more than 12 years now. It’s a joy to see what he’s been able to learn and create over that decade-plus, from reading his first rhymes in his notebook at the small town coffee shop where we grew up, to hearing his new record (to be released Oct 14^th) and cranking it in the car on I-5 driving around The Town. We used to record guitars and trumpets on Garageband together on an old mac laptop, put mics into his family’s piano, beatbox. And now he writes songs people in this great city play on repeat. In the time it took me to write this paragraph, I’ve listened to “Sinnerman” three times, just sayin’.

The album includes micro-skits from BBC’s Sherlock featuring the protagonist proclaiming his vast ability but admitting that most people usually tell him to “piss off” – funny because, as of yet, Spek’s musical career has seen little mainstream success (join the club!). Yet, it’s impossible to turn away from this album; just try. The disc also includes appearances by Ahamefule J. Oluo of Industrial Revelation and Okanomode, aka Soul Childe, two of Seattle’s best performers.

One of Spek’s song, which features Seattle producer Richie Aldente, tells the listener to “Give it to the DJ. Don’t be scared.” The DJ: the one who chooses what we hear. Create something and give it to the DJ. Well, Spek has created something here. Something the DJ in all of us will want to spin.