Goodword

As the title to his debut album suggests, Goodword has a story to tell. In fact, he has quite a few to tell — and he does so with an honestly and a natural talent that easily engages the listener. "I Got A Little Story” is a flute-looped track about a poor little rich girl who slips into the seedy underworld of sex, money and drugs, while "Dirt in the Ground” is a drum-dominated track with a verse each about two individuals who have accepted the inevitability of death and a third verse that gives Goodword’s uplifting spin. With "Just Playin’,” a club-ready dance jam that is an album highlight despite deserving a stronger hook, Goodword criticises studio gangstas and fake rappers who are unwilling to accept the fiction within their raps as "just playin’.” Also standing out from the rest of the album are the battle track "That’s the Rumor,” with a dominant drum roll and gully synth bass, and flamenco-influenced b-boy crowd pleaser "Stick Around.” With his simple but solid flow, storytelling talents and variety of beats, Goodword’s …I got a little story… is a hip-hop album that should appeal to a large cross-section of music listeners.