How many rappers do you know who make rap music that they think their Mom might like? Probably not many. Now, I'm not talking about your Mom. Your Mom is probably into some wack stuff. No offense, but we all know how Moms can be, and they're not usually into cool stuff like rap music.
Frankly, though, I'm not talking about your Mom, I am talking about Steven Perez's Mom, who used to play all sorts of music from the Dominican Republic for him as a kid. Music that he has now rediscovered as an adult and which informs his current artistic endeavors.
Steven is the beat-masher and rhymesayer behind Pedazo de Carne Con Ojo, and his 2020 album ¿Pero Like Cómo E'tá? represents an arranging of mid-to-late 20th Century merengue and batacha into the world of goofy, good-natured rap music.
Calling it goofy is not an insult, mind you. Music is meant to be fun. And fun things can be goofy. That's part of why they are fun. What I mean when I say goofy though, is that while Steven's raps are definitely delightful, he also is willing to take chances with his music and stand by the results, whether they pan out or not.
Thankfully, they usually do, and ¿Pero Like Cómo E'tá? is full of bops, like the jittery, horn-varnished coo of "Hold Me Down," or the big-city bustle of "Handle Yr Business" with its rolling samples and spry, cross-talking flow.
"I Need The Bag" has a sparkling psychedelic quality that remains clear-sighted despite its submersion in foggy atmospherics, and "Mind Racing" manages to bridge the gap between frantic and centered, like a bridge over a torrent of roiling self-doubt and anxiety.
Overall, ¿Pero Like Cómo E'tá? sounds like Steven has his shit together and knows what he is doing, which I'm sure is something his Mom is proud of. I hope she likes the music too, because I sure do, even though I realize that I'm not necessarily the target audience for it.
