Music
Album Review: Tabi Bonney - Postcard From Abroad
Download: Tabi Bonney, Postcard From Abroad
Since I’m from Philly, whenever I would think about Washington DC, I would think of Howard University, Go Go music and the fact that in the late 80’s/early 90’s that DC seemed to be the death capitol of the United States. I remember one of my best friends in high school coming down here to hustle and was rewarded by being almost shot to death. Yeah, DC don’t play. But the one thing that has NEVER come to mind when I think about DC is hip hop. The ONLY time that I ever put DC and hip hop in the same sentence was back in the 90’s when Howard would hold their annual hip hop conference and would turn Florida Avenue into a who’s who of the industry. But since living in the area now for over 4 years and writing for Couch Sessions I’ve come to find out that the DMV is a hotbed for talented hip hop artist! And that hotbed includes the one and only Mr. Tabi “Do It All” Bonney. I call him Mr. Do It All because simply put, he does it all. He’s not only a dope mc, but he is also a clothing designer (Bonney Runway) and a video director. (He recently shot Wale’s “My Sweetie” video and Raheem DeVaughn’s “Greatness” and “In the Bedroom” videos) And somehow finding time between doing it all, Tabi Bonney (who is originally from Togo, West Africa but reps the District like no other) has just dropped a new mixtape, “Postcard from Abroad”.
“Postcard from Abroad” plays like a guided tour of DC and sets off with the smooth trumpet driven “Welcome Everybody” that has a nice M Street Northwest Georgetown feel to it and all I can about “Flamingo Souffle” is that ish goes HARD! Like Benning Road, Simple City Southeast HARD. “Happy Home” featuring Allison Carney is a nice laidback track that has Tabi “keeping it tastefully done like soft porn” like performing at Bus Boys and Poets down 14thand U on a Thursday night. “Sunset Blvd” featuring Phoenix has a nice electro 80’s pop feel to it and it takes you up back up Northwest around DuPont Circle and “Garfield Fish Bones” has Tabi bringing you back through Southeast via Minnesota Ave to cop some new J’s from Downtown Locker Room. But it’s “Sudan Grooves” featuring Emmanuel Jal that gives me that Adam’s Morgan Northwest Saturday night feel and has Tabi dealing with the issue of guns on our streets and when Tabi spits “here comes the rappers with all their guns, and we ain’t got none, quick run, we need guns, big ones” you really feel like you need to tool up because of all these dangerous rappers out in the streets. Tabi’s tour of DC ends with “Outside” and will have you not only checking for more music from Mr. Bonney but will also have you making plans to come back to the District again sometime soon.
“Postcard from Abroad” is a dope showcase of not only Tabi’s skills but his versatility as a mc. He covers so many different styles of music and hip hop, there’s something on here for everybody. Prayerfully, we’ll get some dope visuals to go along with this project, because like I said earlier, he’s just as dope behind the camera as he is in front of it. So the next time you’re in DC catching a Georgetown game, taking a tour of the White House, visiting the Smithsonian or just visiting your cousin Black and ‘em over in SW, don't forget to make some time to find an open mic or support the cat selling his CD out his trunk because you might just get a chance to see or hear the next dope mc coming out of DC’s growing hip hop scene.
3.5 outta 5
