Review: Berner & B-Real - Prohibition
By Chris Reinbold, Contributor
[Bern One; 2014]
Rating: 2/10
Key Tracks: “Strong”
Marijuana’s legalization is currently quite the hot topic. Many believe it would be good for the country and point to Colorado as evidence. San Francisco emcee Berner definitely supports legalization, as he displays on his new record Prohibition. Joining Berner on the album is Cypress Hill legend, B-Real.
On Prohibition, the two rappers exchange verses back-and-forth on each track, creating a definite joint effort. They are joined throughout by Taylor Gang mastermind Wiz Khalifa, classic ‘90s rapper Snoop Dogg and the lesser known names of Vital, Devin the Dude and Demrick. Now that we have the cast of characters, we can look at the music.
Prohibition opens with “Prohibition (Intro),” which is the shortest track on the album, clocking in just short of one-and-a-half minutes. The track is a compilation of audio samples of many speakers that advocate the legalization of weed. The content of this track can immediately make one think, “Wow, this has potential to be an actually intelligent hip-hop album about pot!” But let us not jump to conclusions too soon.
The album flows immediately into “Shatter,” opening with the line, “It don’t matter what you smoke / We smoke better / Our joints are much fatter.” It seems that this notion of an intelligent album is all but thrown out the window. It is all too easy to check out during the two rappers exchanging lines about dabs, sativas and being called “Green Thumb.”
The third track, “Faded,” opens with the typical hip-hop snare-hit and bass-thud beat. B-Real mentions how he smoked joints with Cypress Hill and the verses, as anticipated, are merely forgettable. When the hook rolls around though, the bass of the beat is smooth and oddly refreshing as it comes up against primarily snare “claps” and typical thudding bass.
Snoop Dogg has his time on this track; he throws down a verse where he spits some dank rhymes about how “This shit I’m blowin’ make Bo-peep move four feet,” whatever that means. He also goes on to say, “I spent a million on bud in 1992 / And now I get it for free / Like I’m s’posed to.” Thus far, whatever case they are trying to make for legal toking is going up in smoke.
There are continual mentions of being “Green Thumb,” dabs, bud--nothing that hasn’t been introduced by the album’s first three tracks. The next tracks are as hazy as the previous ones, as they’re all about how much Berner and B-Real light up. “Xanax and Patron” at first seems like some sort of refuge from the bombardment of pot-inspired lyrics, by way of pills and alcohol. That conclusion, however, is incorrect. They rap about their girl Mary Jane, too.
Reaching the last song, “Strong,” is one of the greatest highs of the album. “Strong” is a relief as it is the sole redeeming track on the entire album. The song opens with a slick, emotive, jazzy piano passage, although there is a half-baked, half-mumbled monologue overtop. Throughout the track there is a low, dub-influenced bass line. Unfortunately, the “instrumentation” is this track’s best part. The lyrics are as they were throughout the album and absolutely none of them stand out.
Prohibition stacks up pretty consistently with Berner’s back-catalog; the rapper constantly raps about a drug-heavy lifestyle. The album also displays no steps forward in songwriting or production. There are examples of some fantastic flow on this album, although the lyrics immediately ruin it. To put it bluntly, Berner needs to branch out and grow as an artist.
