Dopehead Mirrors

A first listen to Dopehead back in early 2010 proved to be shocking for its time. Then, a couple of his videos were displayed at The 1440 Collective located on the eastside of Detroit, and he transcended official. Like any other music lover who skips potentially good music because of the artist's name, Dopehead is not gaining a fanbase, because, unlike the dime a dozen commercial rappers, he is hungry (remember what Snoop Dogg was like in 1992 when the Deep Cover video premiered?).

Noteworthy, Dopehead began his rap career as a member of Reservoir Dogs with the likes of Danny Brown, and, Chip$. Dopehead is Danny Brown's hype man, and a good one at that.  Go to one of their shows and you will see, firsthand, the type of unrehearsed chemistry that breeds between these two. Many hip-hop heads on the Internet have mistaken Dopehead's flow for Brown's. The juxtapositions and misconceptions deserve to come to an end with Plaid Palm Trees.

"Airbags," the lead single, is a laid back truth cocktail, explaining his urban city life. He even manages to touch on the mindset of many trying singers and rappers with  "Everybody wanna be Dwele they ain't him, everybody wanna battle rap, but they ain't Em." He essentially squashes that "I think I'm [insert famous local performer here]" mentality. "Drifiting" carries the sole feature on this entire album from Wu-Tang's resident female vocalist Blue Raspberry -- a beautiful one at that. Other standout songs include: "Mirrors," "Sephiroth," "Dope," and "Pump Up The Volume."

Dopehead's Plaid Palm Trees can be downloaded -- graciously, for free -- here. Producer credits are tagged via each MP3 song.