JackBoot

Video Editor | Photographer | Videographer | Graphic Designer

NothingElse…Is Out There EP

When NothingElse dubs his first solo outing “NothingElse…Is Out There”, you dear listener should be aware that he is tinkering with the gray matter inside your brain. One of the pillars of the AMPON Collective, NothingElse polishes every facet of the EP in order to unveil an AMPON oeuvre—a quality synthesis of form and content. 

But before we barge in with the details, let us clarify a few notions first. 

•	There are no R&B “singers” featured in this project. 
•	No one is pretending to sing only to hit the wrong notes.
•	No animals were harmed in the production of this EP. 
•	But yes, NothingElse, whose name is a play of words in itself, is ingenious in his songwriting. 
•	Literary devices such as allusions, alliterations, metaphors, and similes appear without fail. 
•	The chosen language is bilingual—Filipino and English.  
•	Repeated listening of the EP is also very rewarding. 
•	Your mom and dad will definitely love this record. 
•	Your cat? Perhaps.

The EP gate-crashes with the Caliph8 produced “Bulag, Pipi, at Bingi.” NothingElse bombards Filipino verses over a minimalist experimental beat that has a drum pattern unorthodox in Hip Hop standards. It is then followed by another Filipino track titled “Episode IV”. On this track, NothingElse collaborates with beatsmith Chec and lyricist extraordinaire Gabby (also known by many aliases such as Latchbox, Shroomy, and his most recent persona fishoutsidethebowl). “Kawawang Bata” wraps up the Filipino component of the EP. Not to be outshined by DJ Red-I’s beat and methodical turntablist technique, NothingElse weaves lines like “ang lahat ng ma-enkwentro’y nag-iiwan ng bakas, kahit kaila’y di mababaklas, kahit antayin pang matapos ang palatastas.” Then as an interlude between the Filipino and English division of the EP, Chec’s “Unitide” beat smoothly serves as transition. The English component then commences with “Count your Chips”, a collaboration with two self-exiled AMPON members—Bacolod-based emcee Six and Vancouver-based producer Flexx.  “Microphone Mesh”, produced by Skarm, is where NothingElse brandishes an underground Hip Hop aesthetic form that only few Filipino emcees and rappers can equal. Then in “Reference Rap”, DJ Skid of the Hawaiian crew Audible Lab Rats creates an atmospheric beat which provides NothingElse a means to exhibit uncanny wordplay and a postmodern collage of various juxtaposed images. 

 And dear listener, I leave you with the same line written by Dr. Malcolm Long in his journal after his therapy sessions with Walter Joseph Kovacs:

“There is 
Nothing
Else”


Anonymous 
April 20, 1985


JackBoot

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