SkyeLineZ reviews Oneirology - Get Ingnorant

Oneirology
In an era where radio caters to pop rap and commercialism, Oneriology is a breath of fresh air. It takes us back to what we really love about hip hop: stories depicted in clever and sophisticated rhymes that evoke a wide range of genuine emotions. “Oneirology” means the scientific study of dreams and is the fifth studio album released by Cunninglynguists. Prior to Oneriology, they had released four other studio albums. In 2001, they released their first album “Will Rap For Food”, which was quickly praised for their clever rhymes and consistently great production. They went on to release Southern Underground in 2003, A piece of Strange in 2006, and Dirty Acres in 2007. If you listen to underground hip hop, then you may already know that Cunninlynguists are truly gifted lyrical wordsmiths. They are a hip hop trio from Down South that consists of three members: Deacon the villain, Kno, and Natti. The group name plays off of the word cunnilingus, which in short, has nothing to do with words. Oneriology was produced by Kno and has featured artists Tonedeff and Big Krit on it as well. Oneirology boasts off a world of clever and genius word schemes. It is the type of album one can listen to straight through, from beginning to end. It is also an album that is so deeply invested in creativity that you must listen to it more than once to fully capture the artist’s full investment of talent and thought. One thing I truly love about this album is the level of consciousness in most of their songs. While the concept is about studying dreams, the irony is their songs are filled with a level of consciousness that would alarm anyone just “sleepwalking” through life. Cunninglynguists show they are conscious of individual demons that most people face and within the state of society as well. One song that is an epitome of their level of consciousness is “Get Ignorant”. It definitely talks about the complacency of ignorance in our society and shows us how ignorant society really is. The hook mocks the phrase “get ignorant”. That phrase is usually used when someone is about to act out. So in a way they are telling people to act out because of our level of ignorance and also because society is trying to keep us ignorant. In this song, the production is more aggressive than the rest of the album and the lyrics are in your face as well. Within Oneriology, the songs often builds up and the concept of Oneriology is depicted through Kno’s use of soft samples, pianos, dreamy pads, and guitars. We see this in a song called “Shattered Dreams”. Shattered Dreams is an example where the production and the song writing complement each other. It is a dreamy kind of sound mainly depicted by the guitar and the pads. It is a slower kind of song as Natti spits one verse comparing love to shattered dreams. “ Nowadays love is in the haze of a flashback, those who invest deeply need be getting their cash back, being in lust with love feels so dreamy, til it’s shattered in beautiful pieces scattered beneath me”. Being in lust with love is a powerful statement in the sense that people have an overwhelming desire to be in love for all the wrong reasons. This is just a preview of the lyricism throughout the whole album. The songs are unique and beautiful while telling stories of the heart. It is by far one of the best albums I have ever heard but still lacks the recognition it deserves. Great music is everywhere, but sometimes the best is the ones we hear of the least. So do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Oneriology. If you are skeptical about buying the whole cd, look up the song list and listen to them on Youtube. It is not an album where only one or two songs are good and the rest blows. Definitely not. It is an album that collectively touches the heart. It is beautiful on every level from production to lyricism. Oneriology consists of true hip hop and you hear it through their interludes, spoken word, stories, lyricism and their overall music. You will not be disappointed. Instead
It will leave you wondering why the radios are not playing great music like this.
- SkyeLineZ