#rewindreview: Example ‘impulses’ EP 1997
When talking about Hip-hop in Houston certain names will always come up by default. Those names are just one side of what the great city has to offer though. For those like myself who grew up in the 1990’s surrounded by a certain sound from the city it was a surprise and proud moment to hear Example when listening to a local college radio show in Houston. ‘Slow Motion’ sounded like anything one would expect to hear on a college radio show back then but the difference was this song mentioning certain places in Houston. In 1997 this was rare to my ears and made me look into who this was. Kay, who went by “Dekay” at the time and D.J. Cipher made for this group Example, that seemed like they were speaking for that part of me that didn’t have a loud enough voice at the time. The music was what I wanted to hear, the content was relatable and for a younger me in my last couple of years in high school, there was a sense of the music not taking itself so serious but still having a positive frequency to it. For almost half a decade I didn’t hear this full release but when I did hear it, realized I actually heard all the tracks just in different spaces. This took nothing away from experiencing the eight track EP and simply made me appreciate the idea of being dedicated to releasing HOP music like this, as a physical medium, in a market not designed for the music provided. This really is a stepping stone for Kay as one can see how his rapping and production abilities have advanced over the years but nothing to look back at and be ashamed of. It’s more likely the reason ‘impulses’ has been re-released in the last couple of years, as for it to not be forgotten and display how a critical part to Houston Hip-Hop has evolved over the years for a particular generation. What did you think of the album? Listen to QUANTUM LEAP RADIO every Saturday from 4-6p.m. CST & Thursday from 3-5a.m. CST on 90.1 FM KPFT Houston in HD2 Worldwide @kpft.org/listen (under “kpft in HD2”) Catch past episodes by searching and following @fanlink.tv/QuantumLeapRadio
