Reviews Alkota - Don't Sleep!

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Alkota has been putting it down for a minute. Spending most of his time in cold Alaska making beats, he drops his latest, "Don't Sleep!". It's a 14-track instrumental album where he brings out lots of samples and slick arrangements.

The opening track "Don't Sleep!" starts with a smooth drum pattern and some strings, then he drops in a synth sound that blends nicely over the entire track. Very good intro to this album, although one thing I did notice was the strings sounded like they were lagging behind the sped-up drum pattern near the end.

"I Miss You" samples an old school track. He chops the music and the vocals nicely to fit his drum pattern, but a bassline would have really helped this beat. The chorus is a little too crowded for my tastes but not too bad.

With "Back Up", Alkota comes with some slick scratches on the hook which really adds flavor to this beat. The whole beat is very smooth, but sounds more like an interlude than anything because it's repetitive. I was waiting for some sort of break to come in and guide me somewhere else.

Track 4 is "Stomp". I can definitely see Jay-Z rapping over this! Scratching and some flute are great additions to this track, the only thing that I didn't like was the drum pattern, he could have eased back a bit and kept it to a minimum.

The next track "This It" is a great head-bobbing beat. Very good job with the drums, this track would be perfect for an MC. The sample he brings in just before the chorus drops would have sounded better with a bit of effects on it to smooth it out.

"Buggin" is an eerie, evil track but the music pattern makes this beat very repetitive right away. I wanted to hear a change up immediately because I wasn't liking the organ all the way through, it would have been okay on a hook but that's it.

On "Ghetto Dreams", he comes with a very smooth beat. Nice piano/harp pattern with extra effort put into the hats and the mixing of all the little background sounds. The low-end was very well done, it blends in with the kick nicely. I would love to hear an MC over this.

"Another Great Day" is a really smooth beat with a great guitar sample, and the hiss and crackle makes this track extra special. The drums are good on their own, but don't blend in too well with the guitar. They're very good, but I find that the drums are just sitting there on top of the guitar, rather than blending in with them. In other words, clean drums + dirty sample = should have dirtied the drums. The chorus was really good with a smooth vocal snippet.

As soon as I heard track 9 I thought "Yo this sounds like an anthem", and I was right! The song is called "Anthem". The horns on the hook were great but I think if he had of taken them out on the verse or at least muffled them into the background then brought in something else, it would have really sealed this track.

On "Snatch", Alkota drops a really bouncy track and does a great job on the low-end! I was feeling this beat the most because of how well everything blended together. The vocal snippet he brings in is the perfect addition to this loop. Good change up on the drum pattern, but I would still like to have heard something different for a verse.

With track 11 "Slugs", we have a slow track with some sped-up drums. Some of the sounds are a little annoying because they continue all the way through without changing much. The scratching provides a good break, and the entire beat is head-bobbing. I was really digging the strings he has panned hard left, I would have liked to have heard more of those strings, spread out over both sides.

"Back Then" starts off with a crackly piano sample. The whole track has a very 'lazy Sunday' feel to it and the drums fit the piano very well. The bass is almost non-existent, I would have liked to have heard more of a consistent pattern throughout, but I would still play this on a rainy day!

Track 13 "49th Soul" wakes me up after the previous track, very hype. There's lots of samples that come in everywhere, but all of them together and they clash and sound out of tune in some spots. Alkota should have backed off on the samples on this one. Sadly, this is the whole track. I was hoping that this was just the chorus, but instead he continues this the whole way through. I can hear a very good track behind all the cluttered sounds, please bring it out!

The last track on this album is "Tomorrow". I know this track! I played it on IllMuzik Radio. It's a very hype track, and it's fitting that he put it last on his album because it reminds everyone one last time of what he can do. The whole track has a fast looped sample with a hyper drum track and a great sounding horn dropping in every few bears. The only thing missing is an MC!

Conclusion

Overall, this is a really good instrumental album by Alkota. I didn't know what to expect when I was given the opportunity to preview this album, but I wasn't disappointed. Yes, there are some tracks that have its low points and could be better, but I highly recommend this album to anyone that wants to hear solid beats all the way through. He does a great job with this entire album, but the only major problem I have with it is that since it's an instrumental album, most of the tracks sound repetitive. It's not necessarily Alkota's fault, it's just what happens when you do only instrumentals, that's why it would have been nice if he had of put a bit more thought into how he could keep the listener's ear on some of these beats.

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Score: 3.5 / 5