Esinchill, Vigilante

Esinchill , Vigilante [Jake Records]

By Sjimon Gompers » The Bay Area’s post-Hyphy scene has been met with ghost riding car wrecks. Mistah F.A.B. flipped over his whip in early February of this year, the Chronicle last week described a side show pandemonium of smoke, cars, noise, bodies on the ground and three dead with Oakland police cracking down on all side show exhibitions. Amid the sirens and milky exhaust from crashed cars stands Digital Underground’s Esinchill, providing a dose of both realism and personal catharsis in his delivery on the recent release of Vigilante on Seattle’s Jake Records. Mistah F.A.B. has championed Esinchill as the “greatest underrated rapper,” DJ Quick has canonized him in the “same light of the great ones,” Shock G says “he’s ridiculous,” and Redman has advised us to “watch out."

As an underdog, his star shines bright through a cutting, crisp, competent and confident delivery. His tracks exhibit both talents and painful introspection. On “Feel My Pain,” Esinchill covers the gamut from his gift of rhyme, “hip hop I’m so sorry that I’m lyrical,” to theosophical concerns, “who am I to blame the almighty God spiritual, probably, didn’t expect an apology.” Like Tupac’s own personal detailing of his relationship with his mother in “Dear Mama,” Esinchill raps about communicating with his dad in “Daddy was a Sailorman” about the particulars of paternity along with the responsibilities and consequences of child rearing. Ensinchill raps,“You see his father wants him to stay in school, but he’s ready to play football, his academic scholarship is just a tool.”

The inner glimpses showcase the soul of his delivery, just as his self assurance carries out the sound of a man emerging from the sidelines of the Bay Area’s wings with a swagger. “Soul of the City” rings out loud with “won’t stop ‘til I’m on top, say hello to the underdog, it’s a long shot.” A nod back to the long road toward recognition with a focus set on the future of influence. “Swallow your pride, follow my stride…man listen, I am ambition.”

Unlike the thizzed out candied colored Louis Vuitton capped-hubris of the aforementioned Hyphy movement, Esinchill’s raps are rooted in realism and concern for the community of Oakland. His conscious approach outlines issues of police discrimination, racial profiling and rebellion on tracks “Where is the Justice,” “What You Stand For,” and the ominous bass-synth bubbling closer “Oakland City Blues.” Ensinchill relates the woes of Oakland with, “Right up the block you can hear lots of shootin’, just up the street you can see lots of prostitution.” His melancholic love and concern for his hometown begs an answer to the senselessness of violence and crime that Oakland experiences daily. “Gotta find me a solution to these Oakland city blues.”

Esinchill transcends great charismatic flow into the content of his surroundings and inner thoughts of character. The reality that Esinchill depicts is a pursuit for equality, justice and understanding in a world of corporate hype that would have you believe that reckless side shows are the root of the problem. The light shines on the contemporary issues plaguing the Bay, while his own light shines bright. Esinchill’s emergence from the East Oakland shadows could not have come at a better time.

Posted on October 26, 2009

More on: esinchill, digital underground, tupac, east bay, oakland, mistah f.a.b., jake one, jake records

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