The cool thing about the tracks that THNDRTHF raps over is that it sounds like Simple verses only upgraded. This of course is not his marketing plan or selling point, but unprobed this dood told me his verses on Posting While High were all freestyles. That is dope to me because I listened to all of those rhymes and it never occurred to me that those were freestyles. THNDRTHF is just that dood. He’s got it.
I don’t know THNDRTHF at all aside from what I learn from what he posts to Twitter. But I imagine he has a big heart. You have to have a big heart to release a (mostly) instrumental album that is 51 tracks and 2.2GB in size called Posting While High.
The Brooklyn by-way-of Portland rapper and beatsmith, Sandpeople member and beard enthusiast has some big plans for his latest project. I won’ t talk too much about that here, instead I’ll let you get the word straight from the horse’s mouth after a few notes about the project…
I was advised to smoke to this on the first listen. Advice I declined, as I wanted my first impression to be a sober one. In hindsight, I kind of regret it but it’s been replayed both sober and dazed and it is a great listen every time. My favorite track is “Real Life” – a song that has no raps. The hook sang by artist, Keys, is what drew me in after the initial, weary piano riff. My only complaint about that track is the drums don’t bang hard enough, and there’s no THNDRTHF raps on it. But that shit is dope!
Obviously, this project is far too vast to tell you about all the highlights and low points. But another highlight is fellow Sandpeople member and Wool See captain, iAMe’s track on “Triumph MAX.” iAMe verses seem to always be on point. Broken record alert, I just wished for a collaboration track between the two prolific artists.
I may gripe about THNDRTHF’s drums here and there, but I’m just giving you my feelings, folks. One of my favorite dynamics in his production is his bass lines. They are ALWAYS on point. And I never say the word “always,” trust. Unless I tell you “you can always trust me” or talking about THNDRTHF’s dope bass lines.
Another highlight for me was, “Todays The Day.” Love the piano. Love the drums. I don’t know what the hi-hat thingy is but it sounds uber interesting. It reminds me of the Smoke-produced opus “Cowboys” from the Aurora album.
THNDRTHF’s unconventional approach to making music affords him the luxury of doing what other artists simply cannot.
Another thing I wasn’t feeling about Posting While High is the tracks that THNDRTHF decided to rap on mostly were not his own instrumentals. File this under “semantics” or “petty” but I like this dood’s instrumentals a lot. My favorite track of the entire album is “Flashdance Final.” I didn’t peep the liner notes, but it sounds like a THNDRTHF instrumental. And the verse is classic Thunder Thief. If this shit ain’t classic, at least it’s a good addition to mathematics. His words, not mine.
So yea, like I said, it sounds like THNDRTHF has a big heart. And from what he tells me he’s good at growing and maintaining beards. Of course, all of this is wild speculation, so I am happy I had a chance to chat with the Portland artist about some of these important issues. Check back for that interview early next week. #OutHere