By: Josh Gloer

With a guy like Sareem Poems, you never know what you’re going to get. Sharlock Poems or The LA Symphony, an emcee or poet, hip-hop or rap… While the man continuously reinvents himself, one thing is redundantly clear – you know you’ll get something worth listening to.

“Enter…” The challenge echoes in track one of the Renaissance musician’s latest endeavor, Black and Read All Over. A repetitive drone, it’s an invitation to experience life through lyrics that pour from the mind of a man who’s been there, lived it and come out the other side with a story to tell.

Black and Read all Over is an aggressively gritty trip back to the artist’s roots, the album like a punch in the face to remind fans that Sareem has yet to go soft. Angry yet thoughtful rhymes cause speakers to ache, humming the tracks as though this album, after a long wait, has fulfilled their purpose. Old school gangster laid over church organs, the vocals are the real star as this no flair, stripped down track list are reminiscent of Biggie and Busta rolled into one.

With Akil of Jurassic 5, Oddisee, Pigeon John and Lmno (to name a few) lending a hand, Sareem has given his fans something to think about. Stand up, be yourself, see the light, see the world through different eyes… in these 14 tracks, Poems proves that good lyrics don’t have to be polluted with negativity to be good. There’s a message here, and it’s positive.

It doesn’t matter what style he chooses or under what name he goes… Sareem Poems delivers.