Eternia

BY Thomas QuinlanPublished Jun 1, 2005

Having to wait until the fall for the release of her debut album on Urbnet, Eternia has opted to introduce herself with this collection of previously-released tracks and new songs mixed by DJ Law. The Collection exposes a versatile MC who is just as capable rapping about relationships ("Bklyn Masala” and the classic "Sorrow Song”) as she is rapping about hip-hop ("2 Words”) or dropping battle verses on posse cuts ("Just the Way It Is”). And it also runs the gambit from smooth beats to rough boom bap. Combining songs throughout Eternia’s recent rap history, there are more than a few tracks recorded for albums by other artists, and therefore features quite a few guest appearances, including Classified and Collizhun, and more established Americans like Apathy, Freestyle, and 9th Wonder (who supplies a couple of beats). And it wouldn’t be a mix-tape without a bunch of shout-outs — via phone messages — from her impressive list of famous friends. While there are a lot of good moments, the highlight occurs near the end with the consecutive quartet of tracks "Spit Just 4 U,” "Thats Wsup,” "It’s Gonna Be Cold,” and "Movin’.” It’s time to wake up and discover what you’ve been missing.

What do you think people will take away in regards to Eternia after listening to The Collection? I think The Collection showcases that I can spit. It’s not as conceptual as the album, It's Called Life. The Collection is more like a musical ride that can fuel you. You know, mix-tapes have momentum; they do that. Hopefully people can say, "Well I'd only heard her on such and such a track, and now I've heard over an hour of her spittin' and damn, she is the truth!"

Do you use rap music as a way to purge feelings, sort of like a diary? Most certainly. At first it wasn't intentional, but now I sometimes even wait until I'm angry or sad or any form of extreme emotion to write. It’s cool because the rhymes come out easier that way. Writing rhymes is definitely the only form of recourse I have in many circumstances. I'm not scared to air dirty laundry or get shit off my chest.

There are some quality guest appearances by established artists from south of the border. How did you hook that up? Everything I do is on a grassroots level at this point. So it’s me knowing them personally, or getting connected to someone that knows them personally, in the case of 9th. Apathy I've known since I was 15 and Freestyle since I was 19. So that’s both years of knowing each other and recording other collabos that the world will probably never hear!

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