Overlooked: Gabriel Stark’s “Cocaine Gold” (Album Review) Posted by Dharmic X on 04/09/13 | Filed under Mixtapes, Opinion, Album Reviews, Overlooked, Gabriel Stark

“First Time” by Fabolous was not a smash hit. In fact, the song, which featured Rihanna from the "Good Girl Gone Bad" (think “Umbrella”) era, was not even a single off of Loso’s From Nothing to Something. It is a syrupy sweet song, more catered to Fab’s female demographic, and perhaps a terrible song to choose for any type of hip-hop related analogy. But beneath “First Time’s” sensual overtones, Fabolous does convey the emotion of what it feels like to experience something for the first time.



Most people remember their first time doing anything in life, so long as they were old enough to recollect it. No matter how badly it may have gone or how insignificant, it will forever stick in the mind. This applies even in the music industry. So it should come as no surprise that I have taken a special fondness for the music of Bronx representer Gabriel Stark, who happens to be the first artist I ever interviewed.



After being introduced to Stark’s music through the conceptual “Rolling Through Dallas” track, I downloaded the "Starky F. Kennedy" mixtape, and was impressed with the man’s ability to craft intricate thinking man’s music with his own unique sound that was definitely attempting to remain rooted in a more modern sound. The interview actually took place last January in the NYU library (coincidentally, this is the same location where I interviewed !llmind).

From then on, I have tried to follow Stark’s career the best I could. While periodically releasing music in 2012, he has finally released the full-length "Cocaine Gold" project, a project that was two years in the making. He originally sent me the album nearly a month ago; however, the version that the young man chose to release to the public is more condensed, needed because of how intricate and complex it is on a conceptual level.

"Cocaine Gold" is an audio treatise on race and class in the context of America’s schools. However, what makes the music is engaging is just how personal this is for Stark; this is his real life story to-date, not some fantasy he is choosing to lecture on. For instance, “My Mistress” is a very personal track about a relationship he is tentatively longing for, interspersed in the day-to-day grind of what it means to be a rapper on the come up.

The subject matter is heavy even on the songs that sound like they were meant for partying. Take “Snowed In” for example. On a song with a heavy 808 booming instrumental, Stark takes the listeners through the scenes of a frenetic house party. Towards the end of the track, however, he starts to describe the women he is with, and goes way beyond the usual descriptors. “Daddy works at Goldman, Momma in the Hamptons,” he says, choosing to analyze beneath the surface. “Ratchet Barbies” is another example, with a beat that sounds like the sequel to Big Sean’s “Ass” serving as the canvas for Stark to depict the lifestyle of a trust fund baby that he befriends and her over-the-top flamboyant lifestyle.

The beats fit into the vibe of what is considered mainstream music, a blend of instrumentals ranging from ambient and spacey to 808-popping club beats. Fans of more traditional beats may be appalled at the instrumental choices used on Cocaine Gold, but ultimately, the beats fit excellently with the concept of the project, reflecting the soundtrack of the debauchery Stark witnesses while trying to remain sane and balanced.

What add to the cohesion of the project are the skits that get placed at the beginning, middle, and end of the project. There are these three, thirty-second tracks that turn the album into a narrative. The three tracks show the “narrator” sitting in a diner, as if he is analyzing the story he is unraveling in these songs from a distance as he narrates them. The skits are subtly executed without giving away too much information, and what makes it work so effectively is the background music chosen for the diner, a very somber, soulful tune that fades beautifully into the following track.

Gabriel Stark may not be the most lyrical rapper to enter the studio. His flow is sometimes awkward and may leave something to be desired for more ardent purists. His rhyme schemes are fairly basic throughout the project, and he is not going to blow anyone away poetically. But what he lacks in these departments he more than makes up for with his incredible gift of storytelling. Not only can Stark see the finer details and analyze them with brilliant clarity, but he can also see the big picture, and how the pieces need to fit together to create a masterpiece. Cocaine Gold is the culmination of both of these facets put together with precision, making it a very solid release worth checking for, especially for those into a more experimental sound.

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